Cobalt
by xTheWinterQueenx
Summary: After his defeat in the school duel, Chazz is summoned back to his brothers' mansion for "business" reasons. When he returns to the academy a month later, he's not the same arrogant, egotistical person he once was. Seeing this change, his biggest rival, Jaden Yuki, plans to figure out the reason once and for all. Rivalshipping.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: After his defeat in the school duel, Chazz is summoned back to his brothers' mansion for "business" reasons. When he returns a month later, he's not the same arrogant, egotistical person he once was. Seeing this change, his biggest rival, Jaden Yuki, plans to figure out the reason once and for all. Rivalshipping.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**Warnings: Abuse, possible non-con (I haven't decided yet)**

**Author's note: So I've has this written for a while, but I didn't feel like posting it until now. I have two chapters done already and I'm working on the third, so I've got a reasonable head start, considering this story shouldn't be too long. Post a review for fast updates! They motivate me**.

The wrought iron gate guarding the entrance to the Princeton mansion grew taller, and more menacing, as the sleek black limo pulled closer. Inside sat the two owners, Slade and Jagger Princeton, and their youngest brother, Chazz. The two eldest cast disapproving, practically disgusted looks at the younger, who merely kept his head lowered, and stared nervously at the ground.

Two days ago, he had been called to Chancellor Shepherds office to be told that his brothers had pulled him out of Duel Academy in order to attend to some "important business". Chazz, however, knew exactly what it was about.  
>Him losing the duel against Jaden.<p>

One of his brothers helicopters had arrived the next morning-with a noticeable lack of either Slade or Jagger. Chazz had taken the hour ride to enjoy his last moments of being alone, as he knew the minute he stepped foot in front of them, they'd hound him relentlessly. They always did, after all.

It was only when the helicopter had landed, and Chazz had exited with his small bag of possesions, that he noticed his brothers. Their mouths curled in displeasure at seeing their younger brother, their eyes burning with a malicious fire. Chazz lowered his head, and, taking a deep breath, walked forward until he was but a foot in front of them.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here Jagger? A pathetic little loser perhaps?"

Chazz shivered slightly and said nothing. He knew his place; to challenge either one of them was to be beaten. His brothers had no fears, anyone who saw could be paid not to tell. This was their domain, where rules against domestic violence no longer existed.

This was the world of a Princeton.

Jagger had grabbed him by his spiky hair and all but tossed him towards the limo.

"Get in, slacker. We don't have all day you know."

Obediently, Chazz climbed into the sleek vehicle, taking care to sit in the seat farthest from where his brothers normally sat. Jagger and Slade followed him quickly afterward, and all too soon the limo began its slow acceleration towards their home. Chazz chewed his lower lip, and apprehensively peeked up through his bangs to see what his brothers were doing. Both were on their phones, scrolling through notes and messages from secretaries and other co-workers. He let out a secret sigh of relief and turned his head to watch the scenery flashing by the windows. As long as Slade and Jagger weren't talking to him, he was happy. He let his mind drift to the residents of Duel Academy, and what they'd think of him if they could see him now. The ever proud Chazz Princeton, submissed into silence and fear by his seemingly harmless older brothers.

They'd never let him live it down. Especially one particular Slifer Slacker.

Jaden Yuki. Ever since the boy had arrived, Chazz had felt a certain hatred towards him. He'd beaten him in their first duel, and countless times after that. Imagine, the top Obelisk Blue of his class losing to a lowly Slifer Red.

But by now, Chazz's feeling were beginning to confuse themselves. Yes, he hated the boy who had beaten him, who had caused him to be abused by his brothers both in the past and now. But he also... admired him. Longed for him even. This was the boy who made making friends look as easy as dueling a beginner. Who had saved him, if only temporarily, from his brothers wrath. Who had stood up to them as they degraded him for losing that duel. He was the boy who stopped the gossip spreading through the school afterwards, and who accepted him into the Slifer dorm despite Chazz's protests. The boy who had noticed how Chazz sat alone, in the corner, in their cafeteria, and who had come to keep him company. But most of all he was what Chazz wanted to be, more than anything; loved.

It was plainly obvious that everyone at Duel Academy loved Jaden. Slifer Red's, Ra Yellow's, and Obelisk Blue's alike constantly sang him words of praise. They came to watch all his duels, striving to be the first to congratulate him after a victory. At one time, Chazz had been in that position. Now, people mocked him, talked about him behind his back or, hell, to his face! Almost all of the respect he had once had was gone now. He was a has-been now.

Chazz was startled back to the present as a hand grabbed underneath his chin and twisted him away from the window. He had been so consumed by his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the sprawling mansion they were rapidly approaching. The intricate gates had just swung open as Slade began speaking.

"You know where your room is, Chazz. Put your things inside and then come down to the sitting room. We have some very important things to discuss." Chazz couldn't help but notice how he emphasized 'things', "and don't keep us waiting long. You know the consequences."

The black clad teenager narrowed his eyes slightly and shook his head once in acknowledgement. He had seen this coming, of course. His brothers didn't like prolonging things, and besides, the faster they accomplished whatever it was they had planned, the faster Chazz was back to Duel Academy and out of their hair.

The limo pulled to a stop in front of the massive front doors. Chazz, trying not to look too eager to escape the small confines, subtlety slid closer towards the door in anticipation. When the chauffeur opened it, Chazz all but bolted out. He ran to the front doors and pushed the handle, trying, in vain, to escape and get inside his room before his brothers could get him. He turned around, sheepishly gazing back at them as they leisurely made their way up the sidewalk and front steps. He stepped out of their way before he could get pushed away, and waited anxiously for Jagger to pull a gold key out of his pocket and insert it into the lock. The distinct click was music to Chazz's ears as the heavy wooden door was swung open. Slade and Jagger entered first, while Chazz slipped around them and dashed upstairs to his room.

Once he was safely upstairs and out of his brother's sights, Chazz let loose a sigh of relief. He kept up a brisk pace as he walked to his room, winding through hallways, passing door after door until he arrived at the wing housing all three brothers rooms.

It was the longest hallway by far, having to accomidate three huge suites. Chazz's room was the farthest down, recognizable by the black cherry wood double doors. He opened both doors, and, for the first time since he had left Duel Academy, felt at ease.

The room was a massive, hexagonal creation with vaulted ceilings that had always reminded Chazz of the tower rooms princesses got locked in. Not that he was a princess. It had a floor to ceiling window on the wall opposite the door. The window itself was shrouded in light grey curtains that bathed the room in an unearthly glow that Chazz loved. The walls were painted a deep cerulean. His cherry wood desk was of adequate size, with intricate carvings decorating the front. The crystal desk lamp had been turned on, presumably by a maid. Adjacent to the window was a luxurious, dark wood California King bed, with cerulean and grey coverings and pillows. Opposite was a white marble fireplace, which housed a plasma television above the mantle and a few other knick knacks. His massive closet was concealed by double doors placed near a small sitting area. Floating shelves and modern, swirling pictures accessorized the otherwise bare walls. And to top it all off, a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind silver and diamond chandelier hung from the ceiling. The room was Chazz's safe haven; the one place he could count on being able to escape to.

He set his deck and duel disk down on the desk and sighed before going to the closet to begin putting his clothes away.

He was so not looking forward to this meeting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-GI-Oh! GX. **

**Authors note: Yay for the second chapter! Thank you to all who reviewed, I really appreciate your feedback! :) **

When Chazz returned downstairs again, he found his brothers waiting in the large sitting room adjacent to the main foyer. They both held wine glasses in their hands, the contents a deep burgundy. Slade sat reading a newspaper while Jagger typed away on his shiny, silver laptop. Chazz stopped just outside the doorway and leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath to gather some courage before stepping inside. Neither of his siblings had noticed him yet, so he could easily slip away; but he knew the punishment for that would be much, much worse than what he was likely going to receive now. His brothers were always much more violent when they were truly outraged, rather than just angry.

Chazz looked around the foyers main hallway, searching for something to instill some courage in him. The mirror across from him caught his gaze and portrayed how utterly scared he looked. He growled silently, hating the pathetic expressions marring his features. He willed his face to return to the holier-than-thou expression he wore around Duel Academy; the one he sported when talking to Jaden. Jaden. Maybe if the boy was there, he would save Chazz from the looming task he was about to encounter. He smoothed down some of the wrinkles in his onyx jacket; he was beginning to think he should have worn his Obelisk Blue uniform. It would have made him look more important, if only slightly. Once satisfied with his appearance he turned away from the mirror to face the grey wall. He whispered a silent "you're Chazz Princeton, you can take them" to himself before stepping into the doorway and standing before the rooms two occupants.

"You said you wanted to see me, Slade?"

Said man looked up and smirked, as Jagger snapped the laptop shut and turned his molten gaze on the boy.

"Yes. Sit down, little brother. We have much we wish to discuss."

Chazz visibly gulped, then obliged, walking over to perch on an armchair on the opposite side of a coffee table. His plan to retain his confident demeanor was slipping already, he could tell. And, he knew, so could his brothers. He said nothing, instead waiting for one of the men to speak first.

Jagger was first. "So Chazz, do you know why we wanted to talk to you?"  
>Said boy didn't know what to do. Should he play the fool and say no- which was an obvious lie- or say yes and possibly avoid some of his brothers wrath? He hesitated before nodding slightly.<p>

"Y-yes. I do."

Jagger sneered, but Slade cut him off before he could speak again. His voice echoed around the room, portraying just how angry he was.

"How could you lose that duel, Chazz? You've been preparing for a moment like this all your life! What with the prep school we enrolled you in, which was a huge waste of money obviously, I might add. You used to be the top Obelisk Blue, and now, not only did you get beat by a lowly Slifer, you're one of them too!"  
>Chazz kept his head down. While his brothers words hadn't exactly hurt him, he knew it was better to let them vent without speaking up. They didn't like to be interrupted.<p>

Jagger picked up where Slade had left off.

"Not to mention the camera crew! We spent thousands on them and then you lost! You lost, Chazz, on global television! You are a disgrace to the Princeton name. Princeton's aren't failures Chazz, failures like you."

Alright, that one had hurt. Chazz was used to his pride being damaged by his brothers, but he had never been called a failure before. Sure, he had lost a few duels, but he wasn't really a failure was he?

"...ruined the plan!" Slade's voice cut through Chazz's inner-monologue, and the teenager snapped back to attention. "You were supposed to take over the world of Duel Monsters. It shouldn't have even been hard for you Chazz! The top Obelisk Blue should easily be able to accomplish that, especially if that Obelisk is a Princeton! But you couldn't even do that, you can't do anything Chazz!"

Chazz whimpered slighty at this. Those words had stabbed right through to his heart, bringing back painful memories. Memories of his first duel against Jaden; how after word got around that he had lost, people would sneer at him, make jokes about him. The respect and admiration he had held from his peers since their days at prep school began to degrade after that, and with it, his self comfidence. Of course, he never showed it. Why would he? He just continued on like always, being his arrogant, egotistical self. But inside, all the jokes, all the mocking looks, hurt. It was beginning to seem like he would never be able to escape from the verbal abuse he endured.

Of course, after his duel with Jaden, after everyone had witnessed a portion of his brothers cruelty, people had started looking up to him again. They began thinking they could understand the immense pressure put upon him, and so they began to forget about his losses. Blamed it on the stress of having too older, overbearing brothers. Sure, now people adored him again, but it would never be the same as it used to.

"Listen to me Chazz!" Slade snarled at him from across the room, pinning his youngest brother in place with his fiery gaze. "Stop acting so pathetic! You've been a slacker your entire life! All you've ever done is go to school to become the top duelist. You've lived off what we've provided, and yet you don't do anything in return. Of course, we were content with that for a while, when we thought you were on your way to fame. But you lost, you ruined the plan! You can't expect us to carry your weight forever!"

The man paused, letting silence fall across the room. Chazz willed himself to look up, and found himself being scrutinized by two pairs of steely grey eyes. He sighed inaudibly and tried his best to arrange his face into the confident expression it usually held. After a moment, a smirk slid onto Jagger's face, and he leaned over to whisper something in Slade's ear. The oldest studied the black clad boy across the room as the same expression slithered onto his face.

"Yes, Jagger. I think that's a good idea. Lets teach this slacker a lesson."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or the characters **

**Authors note: Yay for another chapter! Thank you all so much for your reviews, follows and favorites. It all means so much to me and I hope that you'll love this chapter just as much! **

Chazz gulped. He was no stranger to his brothers abuse, but he had a feeling this time was going to be much worse.

"Come here, little brother." It was Slade who had spoken first.

Generally, Slade stood back and watched the action, while Jagger dealt most of the abuse. Not to say he didn't aid the businessman, but he was usually more content to just fix his uncaring gaze on the boy fielding the hits. Slade would snicker and taunt the boy when, on occasion, Chazz would look up and send silent pleas through his eyes for the other to stop the beating, to save him. This time, however, something in his body language told Chazz that Slade wanted to play ringleader. That he was the one who would deal the most damage and cause the most pain. He was no longer happy watching.

"I said, come here little brother!" This time, his voice had transformed into an animalistic snarl. He had his arms rigidly by his side and had clenched his fists. His eyes were quickly transforming into little more than slate grey and black slits as his patience wore out. Beside him, Jagger had crossed his arms and glanced amusedly at his older brother. He let out a sadistic laugh as he turned to address Chazz.  
>"I'd do what he says if I were you. It's not smart to disobey, you know. Especially not us."<p>

Chazz let an inaudible snarl slip from his lips before standing. His head held high and his arms crossed defiantly in front of him, he strode to stand in front of his brother. Of course, he knew taking the position of arrogance over being the submissive mess he usually was at times like these wasn't the smartest idea, but he wasn't about to let his brothers know just how scared he truly was of them.

No one moved for a minute, and a small sliver of hope wormed it's way into Chazz; maybe his brothers, in shock from his blatant defiance, had forgotten some of what they were about to do.

That silvery hope vanished almost as fast as it had appeared as Slade, fast as a snake, reached out and snapped his hand across Chazz's cheek.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing? Do you think this is a joke? That you can laugh this off like it never happened?" He grabbed Chazz by the collar of his black coat and pulled him close, so close that Chazz could feel his brother's breath on his face. "You ruin something for us, and we'll ruin something for you. Payback, little brother, only much worse than anything you could ever deal out."

At this, Chazz gulped and his confident act fell away. He could hear Jagger laughing faintly in the background, but it didn't register in his mind. Everything but Slade had faded out of the room, and Chazz was more scared than he had ever been before. He felt his eyes grow wide, heard the pleading whimper escape his lips, and stared in numb horror at the smirk that crawled on Slades face. A fist collided with his stomach at the same time Chazz felt Slade release the grip on his jacket. His body involuntarily crumpled to the ground, and before he could raise himself back to standing a foot pushed him onto his back. This time it was Jagger who took the initiative to talk, but with a foot planted firmly on his chest and a cloudy mind Chazz couldn't register anything past the words "failure" and "wish." The sarcastic, biting side of him tried to force his mouth to spit back some insult equally scathing as what he assumed Jagger had thrown at him, but his mind told him otherwise; and besides, his mouth had more important things to do, like forcing air into his lungs. The shoe, an identical to a pair which Chazz owned himself, he noticed with dry irony, removed itself from his chest. Two pairs of hands hauled him back to his feet and words catapulted themselves to his ears, passing through without being heard.

A swoosh of wind let Chazz know he was moving, andsuddenly Jagger and Slade were above him. He had been tossed onto the couch that had held his brothers just moments before. Expecting another blow, he raised his hands as fast as he could to cover his face, but something stopped him. A hand grabbed his thin wrist as another covered his mouth. Slade and Jagger were growing bigger, creeping closer and slithering over his body.

"Oh yes little brother, we'll make you pay."

Then they descended like shadows.

* * *

><p>For the first time in his life, Chazz knew the meaning of utter hopelessness. He lay on his bedroom floor, surrounded by a mess of objects that had been thrown off his desk. He was like a king on a throne of broken, crying into his hands silently. His purple turtleneck was ripped in too many places to repair and he knew that he would need a new one. His pants were discarded too, having been ripped and stained with blood past the point of saving. Only his black jacket remained, which he pulled tighter to his thin frame with shaking hands.<p>

Jagger and Slade had finished with him over an hour ago, and with his last shreds of dignity Chazz had limped his way back to his room. The next sequence was a blur of tears and rage, and disgust. Disgust at himself, at his brothers. Everything that had once sat on his desk was now shattered on the floor. With detached sarcasm Chazz let a joke about the maid having to clean up his mess spill from his lips. He ripped the covers off his bed, threw pillows at the mirror until they piled so high he could no longer see his body hunched on the floor. He cried and screamed and pounded on the floor, and for once he was glad the walls were soundproof. He detached himself from his body and watched himself break down on the floor. The high, mighty, powerful Chazz Princeton at his lowest. It was funny, in a sadistic way, and he wondered how many people would pay to get a glimpse of him like this.

His old Obelisk Blue peers would love to hear this story. Some would pretend to care about his well being, mostly his little "fan-club", but he knew that the moment he stepped away they pounced upon any and all gossip surrounding him. Chazz wasn't quite an outcast, but any gossip on the fallen duelist was eaten up greedily by the other students at the academy. But the only thing he could do now was worry at the frayed ends of his black jacket and silently promise himself that no one would find out about this. Especially a certain Slifer Slacker.

The next ten minutes were spent devising a plan for the questions he knew were going to be asked when he returned; and he knew he would be returning, for Slade and Jagger would not stand to have a failure as a baby brother. Chazz had his story all ready: he had been taking a much needed break at various vacation homes with his brothers- he was about to add in "loving brothers" for effect, but he couldn't bring himself to form the words to a wall, let alone fellow students- in order to rejuvenate and return better than ever. The Chazz had returned to regain his Obelisk standards and beat everyone and anyone in his way.

Chazz stood shakily from his cocoon of pillows and blankets to rest a hand on the mirror in front of him. He steeled his eyes and set his jaw, and vowed to himself that no one would ever know what had happened today.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own or am associated with Yu-Gi-Oh GX! **

**Authors Note: thank you all so so so much for all the reviews, favorites, follows and overall love! I appreciate it so much! I apologize for the super long wait, but I'm currently producing my own small film and that's unfortunately taken up a majority of my time, along with finals and finishing school. I hope this chapter is worth the wait :)**

* * *

><p>Chazz arrived at Duel Academy the same way he left; alone. No one came to greet him, not even Shepard, and he was strangely happy about that. His brothers had left him at the gate of their mansion with cheeky smirks and mockingly professional laughs, and so Chazz had spent the limo and helicopter ride rehearsing ways to respond to everyone's questions. However, it was pointless, because he forgot them all the second Duel Academy Island came into view.<p>

He pulled nervously at the collar of his turtleneck- a new royal purple one, to match many more he had been sure to order- while checking his watch; classes were still in session, which meant he should have about two hours to re-settle himself in his dorm. If he was lucky, he wouldn't have to see Jaden until tomorrow morning.

Jaden. Even saying the name in his mind made him nervous; and what made him even more nervous was the prospect of being graced with the Slifer's presence. It was no secret that the little ordeal with his brothers had changed him. Chazz had noticed he was now prone to subconsciously flinching and spinning around whenever he heard a noise from behind; he would avoid contact if possible and was probably a bit snappy as well. With all the time Jaden had spent attempting to befriend the ex-Obelisk, Chazz had no doubt that he most likely had every little quirk of Chazz's memorized; and adding new, not so normal ones would set off the alarms in Jaden's rather dense head. That is, if he could focus past dueling.

The frayed ends of his coat twirled in the helicopters breeze, and the strange yet hauntingly familiar pose brought him confidence. He crossed his arms and felt his hair sway along with the jacket; for a moment he felt like himself again, and it was all he needed. He smirked, gaining the confidence in tenfolds now, and turned pompously to the helicopter attendant waiting behind him.

"Help me being these to my room." He said, motioning to the small pile of suitcases resting near his feet.

She scurried to them with a nod, high heels clacking on the stone. When he was sure she was preoccupied with the luggage, Chazz turned to the ocean. He clenched his fists and raised his head, and for the first time in a month regained that trademark smirk.

"I am Chazz Princeton. And I'm here to Chazz you up."

It did sound slightly foolish, he admitted, but no matter. Satisfied, he turned back to the attendant and motioned with his hand. She nodded again, and with a quick, decisive turn of the heel Chazz started off on the both to his dorm. If one looked close enough, it was impossible to tell anything was wrong.

The door swung open smoothly; at least they had bothered to maintain a semblance of cleanliness while he was gone. His king size bed lay lonely and bare in the middle of the room, an inatimate companion to the television and closet. Chazz scrutinized the dorm carefully, making sure everything was as he had left it. The walls were the same sickly yellow; the wood was just as polished and slick as before. There wasn't any ounce of dust anywhere, for which he was immensely glad.

But it felt wrong to him; everything about this room was the same, exactly as he had left it. But he himself was entirely changed. It didn't seem fair, didn't seem right that things could continue on as before when he had been altered beyond repair.

'I suppose that's life though,' he thought, 'never slowing down for anyone.'

The suitcases slapped the bed loudly. Chazz's inner-monologue had prevented him from noticing the struggling attendant approaching the door, and as a result he jumped quite nervously at the noise. The woman had a hand placed gently over her mouth; the small tremors that moved her body and the slight smile betrayed her attempt to hide her laughter.

"You can leave now, you know. It's not very professional to stay unwanted," Chazz snapped as the lady sobered up. She apologized and then, straight backed and embarrassed, left with a clicking of high heels.

Chazz let out an annoyed sigh. He ran his hand through his hair, a nervous habit he'd picked up that he hoped to leave behind sooner rather than later, and turned his attention to the suitcases. He knew the piles of clothes inside wouldn't fold themselves, but that didn't make him any more likely to want to do it himself. The sides of his coat billowed around him as he flipped onto the bed. The clothes could wait for a little longer.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Sy. Today's the day Chazz comes back!"<p>

The disgruntled blue haired boy nodded and murmured a silent "I know Jay" back. The energetic brunette Slifer had been sleeping in class as normal; but his slumber, and Syrus' education, were interrupted every ten or so minutes so that he could announce Chazz's return. Part of Syrus was curious to know if Jaden would react the same way if he left, but he knew that there was something more than friendship between the two. It honestly was no secret that they harbors crushes on each other (the word sounded so childish in Syrus' mind, but that's what it was). The thought of Jaden childishly attempting to hug Chazz into loving him made Syrus scoff softly and roll his eyes.

"I know you don't like Chazz, but c'mon, he's a good guy once you get to know him." A pair of eyes peered owlishly at him.

"No, Jay, not what I was thinking of," the look on Jaden's face made him add, "and no, I'm not telling you what it was. Focus on Crowler before we both get in trouble."

Jaden deflated with a hum and turned back to the professor; but not before he muttered a "I already know, Syrus" under his breath.

* * *

><p>So yes, Jaden's little conversation had gotten him detention- mostly because he hadn't stopped talking even after Crowler had yelled at him. But in his defense, the prospect of seeing Chazz after his month of absence was way too exciting to keep quiet about. If he was being honest, he hadn't even slept last night; and no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that the only reason he wanted to see Chazz was to duel, he knew that wasn't the case. Albeit a little subconsciously, Jaden knew that Chazz was pretty important to him. Like, better-than-fried-shrimp important. And for Jaden, that was huge.<p>

There was also the fact that Chazz had proclaimed Jaden his rival. Nicknames like Dropout and Slacker didn't exactly convey heartfelt love. But after seeing Chazz's brothers and the way they acted towards him Jaden supposed this removed attitude was just something Chazz has grown up with. His brothers were far from warm and cuddly, and seeing as they were the only major influences in Chazz's life it was really no secret he acted the way he did.

He was currently on his way to Chazz's dorm. Detention had just let out moments ago but Jaden was already halfway across campus. He stopped forward to rest his arms on his knees and catch his breath. The butterflies flitting in his stomach seized up again, and he winced at he feeling. He was once part nervous and two parts excited, but the nerves had won out. Thoughts of Chazz kicking him out raced through his mind; this could play out in so many ways, he knew, and he hoped they all ended well.

Three stops later, Jaden arrived at Chazz's door. He knocked twice, only to receive no answer. He frowned and knocked again, this time accompanying it with a sing-song "Chazz." Still nothing. He turned the handle; on the off chance that Chazz actually left the door unlocked, he could wait for him to return.

The thought of sitting patiently dissolved when the open door revealed a sleeping Chazz curled around his suitcases. His jacket pooled around him and the dark leather cases made a highly expensive cocoon. Jaden had to admit, he looked pretty damn cute. He stopped in the doorway, stuck between leaving Chazz as he was or waking him up. Knowing Chazz, waking him wasn't the best route of action. But then, Jaden had never been the brightest card in the deck.

"Hey Chazzaroo, welcome back!" He followed this up leap onto the bed.

"AHH, no, get off of me!" Chazz leaped up in half asleep delirium. He kicked out his legs, pushing a suitcase to the floor in the process.

Jaden was pushed backwards off the mattress in the next moment. Another suitcase clattered to the ground as Chazz scrambled as far away as possible, which, unfortunately for him, was only a corner. He elicited a small whimper and pulled his legs tight to his body. His sleep shrouded mind wasn't processing the intruder, only that someone had scared him and he needed to fight back lest something happen.

Once the shock had worn off, Jaden crawled slowly towards the black and purple mess in the corner. The boy had his eyes squeezed shut; his hands were wrapped tightly around his legs, so tightly in fact that Jaden could clearly see the bones underneath the skin. Chazz looked genuinely scared. Of Jaden!

"Whoa there Chazz, I'm not going to hurt you. Sorry for waking you up, but, uhh, what was that all about exactly?" He scooted himself directly in front of Chazz and accentuated the question with his trademark hand behind the head and sheepish smile.

Angry gray eyes filled his vision almost immediately. A snarl leapt from Chazz's lips as he untangled himself and pushed Jaden backwards. Chazz stood swiftly, brushing off his coat and the fear that had consumed him. He stomped past where Jaden lay sprawled on the floor to the door.

"Leave, Slacker." There was no joke, no hint of light heartedness in his tone; only pure anger and something Jaden couldn't quite put his finger on. It wavered, like the left overs of unshakeable shame and sadness. "Get out Dropout boy, I mean it. What went through your head that told you waking me up was okay?"

He strode toward Jaden then and grabbed him by the arm. The brunette let himself be dragged towards the door as he stuttered strings of incoherent apologies.

"I'm sorry Chazz, I didn't know you'd respond that way. It was wrong yeah, and I apologize; but let me stay, you just got back, we need to catch up!" Chazz snorted at this and mumbled something under his breath. "And Chazz don't be so scared! You know no one would ever hurt you-"

Something he said, that last sentence most likely, snapped Chazz. He tossed the brunette out the door angrily and slammed it in his face without saying a word. Jaden could hear him collapse back onto his bed, heard what sounded rather like punching pillows, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he should reopen the door to console Chazz. But deeper down he knew that doing so would only spoil their meeting even more, and so Jaden settled for gazing confusedly and sadly at the shiny wood. He went to rest a hand on the door, but pulled back halfway there as if he had been burned.

"I wish I knew what was wrong, Chazz."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am associated with Yu-Gu-Oh! GX **

**Authors note: Alright so now that it's summer I have more time to write! Which means faster updates :) and as always thank you my darlings for all the love you give this story! *blows you all kisses* **

"But Syrus, I don't understand what I did wrong!"

Jaden's voice came out muffled. His head was resting firmly against the wood of his desk and his hair had fallen into his face some ten minutes ago. They- him and Syrus- were waiting for class to start, alone and in serious need of a Chazz discussion.

"You know, I'm trying to be a good friend and all and next thing you know he's freaking out in the corner of his room," Jaden continued, "is it something I did, Sy, or is Chazz just, I don't know, _moody_?"

Beside him Syrus glanced nervously behind him before adjusting his glasses and replying.

"I don't know Jay. Chazz has always been on the allusive side, we all know that. Maybe you just need to give him some time; let him warm up again. I'm sure everything will go back to normal."

Jaden sighed dramatically and a few of his cards skittered from their neat pile beside him. They fanned out across the desk, a few even making their way to Syrus' side. Jaden let out a disgruntled sigh as he lifted his head. How dare his cards interrupt his self-pitying Chazz-discussing moment. Syrus silently handed him back the cards that had drifted to his side and Jaden shuffled them back into the pile. As he tucked his Elemental Heroes back into their places, a thought jolted his head up.

"Sy! I know what I can do!" Syrus jumped slightly at the sudden outburst but Jaden continued, "I'll challenge Chazz to a duel! A friendly one of course, and I'll probably even let him win. It'll be just like old times!"

The ecstatic look on Jaden's face made Syrus guilty about what he was about to say.

"Jay you know he's not going to want to duel. And even if he does it's probably not the best idea," he patted Jaden's arm in an awkward yet comforting way, "just give him time. He'll appreciate it."

Jaden sighed. He lowered his head back to the desk as Syrus' words sunk into his mind. Of course, Syrus was probably right- not that his mind would admit that. After all that had transpired during the School Duel, Chazz was most likely a little more than sore about his defeat.

His month long family bonding time most likely hadn't helped either. Jaden shuddered at the thought of spending a whole day with the imperiously cold Slade and Jagger; he couldn't imagine a month, or a lifetime. Jaden was sure some berating had happened during Chazz's stay, which would only further dampen his mood (not that Chazz was exceptionally sunny to begin with).

He reviewed Syrus' words in his head; he didn't like the path his thoughts were taking, and in true Jaden fashion he was determined to find a loophole in Syrus' reasoning. He smirked, or as close as he could get to smirking, when he found what he thought could work. He looked slyly out of the corner of his eye at his friend before leaning closer and whispering.

"But there's still a _probability_ of chance, right? You said _probably_ wouldn't want to duel. Not definitely."

"Jaden! If he's already in a bad mood, losing a duel-" Syrus cut his words off abruptly, snapping his gaze forward immediately after. Jaden turned toward his friend in concern, wondering what had caused him to stop mid-sentence. Syrus' eyes were trained guiltily on his desk and he had placed his hands in his lap.

Jaden had a question perched on his lips when he heard a ruffle of fabric behind him. A familiar scent followed- one that smelled of sass and impeccable wealth- that alerted Jaden immediately of who it was.

_Chazz_.

Jaden froze. A million things played out in his mind: him talking to Chazz, Chazz punching him and storming out of the class, Chazz agreeing to a duel, Chazz having a heart-to-heart with Jaden, and, lastly and least appealing, Chazz not talking to Jaden.

He could hear the shuffle of Chazz's trademark jacket as he settled in. It sounded like he was playing with the ends, if the soft sounds had anything to say about it. It was so unlike him, and Jaden's heart surged at the thought of Chazz being in distress.

He elbowed Syrus and pulled his head down in that playful way he always did. Wide grey eyes met his own with equal curiosity and annoyance. Jaden wasted no time in rolling his eyes toward Chazz and pulling his eyebrows together to form a questioning look. He released Syrus' head and when they were both back to normal Syrus swiftly shook his head 'no' before turning to face the front of the room.

Jaden took that as the answer he had been dreading; it was not the time to talk with Chazz. He sighed dejectedly, slumping forward slightly as he gave in and faced the professor's desk.

The class period ticked on uneventful. Chazz didn't talk once during the time, even when they discussed- in too much length- topics Chazz already knew. He always bragged about the things he knew, it was natural Chazz Princeton behavior.

When class ended Chazz rose swiftly from his seat, avoiding any and all conversation. Many of the students looked one shocked as he practically darted for the door. He didn't have many friends, nothing more than aquantences, but that didn't stop people from trading questioning looks and whispers. Chazz was loud and arrogant. Chazz was not quiet and sheepish.

For all their apparent concern no one bothered to stop him. Jaden couldn't blame them, no one wanted to step on Chazz's toes. But there was clearly something wrong; he kept his head partially down and his hands tense by his sides, and something in Jaden knotted itself with sorrow as Chazz rushed from the room.

He was among the first to leave the room.

* * *

><p>By third period Chazz had yet to speak to anyone. His allusive behavior continued to confuse many of the students, but none more than Jaden. He continually attempted to talk to the other boy- he couldn't decide if Chazz looked upset or if his mind was playing up the situation- but everytime he made a move Syrus was there with a hand on his elbow and a firm head shake.<p>

When Jaden and Syrus entered the Slifer lunch room, the first thing they noticed was the black trench coat and spiky black hair in the corner.

Chazz sat alone, picking at his plate of fried shrimp and fiddling tensely with his turtleneck. He flinched violently when someone on the other side of the room dropped a tray in a fit of excitement, and then quickly jolted his head up to see if anyone noticed.

No one had but Jaden and Syrus.

Jaden didn't realize he had been staring until Syrus pulled him toward the food line. His stomach jumped as he realize this could be his opportunity to talk to Chazz, and he began ladling food onto his tray uncareingly fast. He had to catch Chazz. It was what good friends did.

It was all for nothing, though, as another loud voice caused Chazz to flinch away. He tosses his fork into the tray and rose quickly, throwing his tray out and making a beeline for the door.

Jaden, having seen it all, reached out a hand, words already forming on his lips. But for the fourth of fifth time that day Syrus laid a hand on his elbow and sighed sadly.

"No, Jay, just... Just leave him."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. **

**Author's note: This chapter was meant to be a part of the last one, but I decided it was better to split it up. And *****_IMPORTANT_***** a part of this chapter is hella AU (the scenes with Zane) so be ready. :) and also, there is quite a bit of talking by one person seperated into many paragraphs. When a quotation mark does not end a paragraph but begins the next the same person is talking. :)**

Saturday was Syrus' brotherly bonding day. And because he was so adamant on Jaden leaving Chazz alone, he dragged his roommate along with him.

It was like Syrus had turned into a mother hen in the middle of the night. He had sat Jaden down that morning and, with that same damned hand-resting-on-arm technique, told the brunette that he thought Chazz needed more time alone. More time to adjust.

Of course, Jaden had protested majorly. He had pulled every card he could think of, from 'but this is brother time, and I'm not your brother' to 'well you don't know Chazz, maybe he does need someone.'

What had terrified Jaden about his last defense was that Syrus had turned alarmingly serious, and with a sad face told his friend that Chazz had some issues, things he had incidentally learned from Zane, that assured him Chazz was happier alone.

So now Jaden found himself sitting in the Obelisk dining hall, trying his very best to engage in the conversation and not think of Chazz. Zane's eyes had met his a few times with that wise 'I know what you're thinking about' look the older boy had. Jaden was embarrassed at first, to seem that transparent, but something in Zane's eyes hinted that he wanted to discuss the same topic; and now he was slyly bringing said topic up. It infuriated Jaden to no end while increasing his curiosity. Syrus had said Zane knew more about Chazz than the average student, and with that information he could find the best way to worm into the cold-shouldered boy's heart. Chazz needed a friend, he knew, and even if getting the information from a second party was a little undermined, Jaden figured he could smooth out any bumps regarding it in the future.

"So I heard Chazz is back. How's he doing?"

Zane took a bite of his sandwhich and raised his eyebrows towards Jaden. It was plainly obvious he was addressing the question soley towards his brother's friend.

"Oh, he's uh, ok? I haven't talked to him at all yet. Syrus has been keeping me from asking what's wrong with him." The annoyance coated his voice so thickly on the last sentence that it surprised even Jaden himself.

A flicker of concern shot across Zane's face, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared.

He swallowed the bite then said, "What do you mean wrong with him?"

Jaden leaned forward, a combination of serious and hopeful.

"Well the first day he came back, I went to visit him in his room. And he was asleep on his bed so I tried to wake him up. But when I did he got all panicked and hid in the corner, " he swirled a fry in ketchup absentmindedly, "he got really mad after that and I left. Haven't talked to him since. But there's definitely something off. Chazz isn't like that, not normally."

Zane nodded thoughtfully. He opened his mouth again, and Jaden's heart jumped at the thought that he would begin to spill his knowledge on Chazz; but instead all he said was "so Sy, win any duels lately? Make your big brother proud?" Jaden visibly wilted, but Zane caught his eye again and gave him a reassuring half nod. They were certainly not done with the topic.

* * *

><p>"Hey Sy, Alexis told me this morning she wanted to talk to you. I think you should go find her."<p>

It had been an hour since Chazz had been mentioned. They were now residing on the lawn in front of the Obelisk dorms, chatting.

Syrus nodded swiftly, but it was plainly obvious that he was slightly dubious. One reassuring look from Zane coupled with a gently teasing smile and a 'go now' hand motion convinced him, and he left.

They waited a few moments, watching the trees and listening to the distant sound of waves, before Zane spoke.

"So, you're worried about Chazz." It wasn't a question. Just a statement spoken in that cool manner of his.

Jaden nodded. "Yeah, of course. He's so talkative and arrogant. Normal Chazz behavior would've been expecting a welcome home party and complaining when he didn't receive one."

Zane hummed thoughtfully. He remained quiet once again.

Two minutes passed before he spoke again. He turned to Jaden, all light heartedness gone from his face.

"I can tell you things about Chazz. Things he'll probably never tell you himself," he paused, "normally I wouldn't do this, but Chazz needs help now, and a friend. And I think you can do both.

"Up here in Obelisk we look after each other. The top senior duelists always keep an eye on the promising freshman, and you know Chazz was one of them. It's almost like a mentoring program; we watch out for the duelists we know will carry on the titles."

Zane paused and looked down.

"Chazz and I got to be rather close. They put me in charge of him, mostly because he was hard to handle, but also because they said he needed a positive figure in his life. The chancellor isn't that dumb, he knew Chazz didn't have the best home life, and so he said he trusted me to be Chazz's surrogate older brother. Someone to be there when he needed it. Chazz told me a lot in the small time he was an Obelisk; and not much of it was positive.

"His brothers are insanely serious about becoming the best. They send him letters all the time, asking how he's doing and how many duels he's won. Because of that he's always been a little distant. The pressure, he said, is too much to handle a lot of times. He deals with his insecurities by pushing people away. He's afraid, I think, of being caught in another relationship like he has with his brothers."

Zane's voice dropped lower, and Jaden had to lean in to hear what he was saying.

"One particularly bad night he told me that his brothers had hit him before for losing a duel. It scared him really bad. And it probably hurt mentally, too. I mean c'mon, here's this fifteen year old kid with no history of knowing what love is, scared to death of his own brothers because he's afraid he won't be accepted by the only people he really knows. He trusts them and he doesn't know why. I told him it's ok, because they're his family. And I told him he could trust me but he hasn't come back yet.

"I can only imagine what this month long vacation was about. But it wasn't good, I'm positive. He needs someone to be his friend, Jaden. He needs someone he can cry to and tell his darkest secrets and not be afraid of. And he doesn't have that."

Jaden was afraid to speak. "But... Syrus told me not to talk to him yet, and he knows all the same things as you, right?"

Zane scowled. "Not all of it, most of it though. Not the abuse, I'd never do that to Chazz, going around spilling his secrets. Screw what my brother said, Chazz needs to be comforted now. You're the best person to get him." He patted Jaden on the back. "Don't let him down, no matter how hard he tries to push you away."

Jaden nodded dazedly. He mumbled some affirmation to do what Zane had said, then took off at a dead sprint after waving goodbye.

When Syrus got back and questioned about Jaden, all he received was a smile.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, Jaden found himself in the exact same spot he'd been in two days ago.<p>

He was standing in front of Chazz's door, holding his deck in one hand and poising another to knock. He had decided on the way over here that if Chazz did not answer he would leave him alone; not alone, alone, but wait by his door or talk Chazz into letting him in.

"Hey, Chazz? It's me, Jaden. Can I come in?" He accentuated his question with a knock and then pressed his ear to the door in hopes of an answer.

There was a silent pause, but then a muffled voice answered from the other side. Jaden couldn't make out what Chazz had just said, so he repeated his question.

"Chazz? I can't hear you, can I come in?"

Once again the voice answered, a little clearer and a little strained, but Jaden still could not entirely decipher the words.

Jaden was torn. Obviously Chazz was in there, and it couldn't hurt for him to just peek in and ask what the other boy had said. He had promised Zane he'd help, he couldn't walk out on Chazz now.

So Jaden did just that. He cracked open the door slowly and stuck his head into the room.

"Hey Chazz! You wanna duel?"

His voice has started out chipper as normal, but when he saw what was happening inside the room he trailed off and gasped.

There was Chazz, standing in front of a mirror with his shirt lifted and a bottle of coverup sitting before him. That didn't concern Jaden (though he had to admit Chazz had amazing abs). It was the bruises, multiple cobalt colored bruises that littered Chazz's chest that alarmed him.

Upon hearing Jaden's voice, Chazz yanked down his shirt and pushed the makeup over the edge of the vanity. He turned on Jaden, hands still clenching the bottom of his shirt protectively.

In the seconds before Chazz unleashed his anger, Jaden noticed how small he looked without his black jacket. How small and fragile and cute.

"Slacker what the hell? I told you to stay outside, open your pathetic ears once in a while and listen when people tell you to wait! You have no right to come in here! Leave!"

His eyes practically glowed with anger and Jaden stumbled back as the other boy took a step forward.

"And no, I don't want to duel. So take yourself and your stupid cards and get out!"

"But, Chazz... I'm here to help you. Just let me."

Chazz balked for a second and something uncertain flashed on his face. He stood unmoving for a second before he regained his thoughts and snarled at Jaden again.

"I don't need help, let alone help from _you_, Slacker." If he was being honest, Jaden had never heard someone sound so angry yet so sad at the same time.

He backed out with his hands in front of him as Chazz strode towards him. When he was almost completely outside Chazz slammed the door, and he had to jumped back to avoid being hit.

He hadn't missed the small sob that escaped Chazz at that moment.

When Jaden was gone, Chazz balled his fists by his sides and slid down the door, letting tears pour down his face. He buried his head in his hands and thought of what Jaden had said. That he wanted to help. That he wanted to make things better.

From outside, Jaden could hear Chazz cry. But he didn't know what to do or how to help, so he walked dejectedly back to his room and lay on his bed the remainder of the day.

When Syrus came back that night all Jaden did was curl himself under the covers and turn away.

The next day, Chazz's door had a shiny new lock.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own nor am associated with Yu-Gi-Oh! GX **

**Author's note: Sorry for the wait, I went on vacation and didn't have as much time to write as I hoped. And on top of that this chapter just did not want to be written, for a whole anyway. But here it is! And thanks to TheSliferestSlacker you all get a sassy-ish Zane :) Another warning (?) is that this chapter had a panic attack scene, and as I have no experience with this sort of thing I did my best to create one. So sorry not sorry if it's not completely accurate. I tried. Again thank you all for your reviews and follows/ favorites! :) I appreciate them so much!**

Jaden didn't sleep that night.

When his roommates awoke in the morning, he rolled over to face the wall and feigned sleep until they left. Over his gentle, even breathing he could hear their concerned whispers. Syrus was determined to talk to him before breakfast, but Chumley convinced him that letting Jaden come to them was the best approach.

They didn't know what had happened yesterday, and Jaden doubted he would ever be able to share it with them. Mostly because Chazz obviously did not want anyone to know, but also because he felt a strange sense of intimacy with Chazz now; he was the only one who had seen the bruises and therefore the only one who could help.

The next thing that came to mind was that he had let down Zane. The older boy had been completely serious when he'd said that Chazz needed a friend; and he hadn't tried enough to get Chazz to talk! Jaden had let himself be pushed out, he could have at least put up a small fight.

His failure left him only two options: avoid Zane as much as possible, or come clean and ask for help. Normally he didn't see the older Obelisk, which would make the first option easiest. But this wasn't a normal circumstance. Zane was awfully persistent when he wanted to be, and he was sure to find Jaden before the end of the day; that, and he was rooming with Syrus. There was no way Jaden could hide when Zane's little brother literally lived in the same room.

He didn't want to make Zane angry either. Even if he hadn't seen it up close, everyone knew that Zane was a force not to be reckoned with when someone worked him into an angry state. And Jaden highly doubted he'd be able to help Chazz if he was dead. So that left only one option: to confront the head Obelisk boy.

After he had dragged himself out of bed, dressed and picked up a waffle on his way, Jaden found himself standing awkwardly at the edge of Zane's dock. The older boy was looking out at the ocean, letting his hair and his jacket blow around him in the wind. He looked rather calm, and Jaden figured it was now or never.

"Hey, uh, Zane?"

The response was immediate. "Jaden? How's Chazz? Did you talk to him?"

Zane looked so hopeful that in the split second before his answer that Jaden considered lying.

"I... Well yeah, I talked to him. But it didn't go very well," Jaden steeled himself now, "you see, I went to ask him to duel, as a sort of friendly "hey, Chazz, glad you're back, let's talk" kind of thing. But his door was closed so I was calling to him and he was answering and I guess he was telling me to leave but I couldn't hear because," he said, pausing to take a breath, "the door was muffling it and I walked in and he, he had all these bruises on his chest, Zane. He was looking at himself in the mirror, and he had this bottle of makeup to cover the bruises. But when I went to ask him what was wrong, to talk to him like you said, he pushed me out and slammed the door. He's got a better lock on it now, and I could hear him crying to himself last night."

He trailed off sadly, not knowing what else to say. Zane, however, knew exactly how to speak his feelings, for he immediately began yelling.

"You came to tell me about this now? Why not last night? It's not like you were doing anything more important! Jaden, this is serious! Serious! And if you're not going to help him, if you're going to let him push you around and leave when he tells you to leave and dance when he tells you to dance, then I'll do it myself! He needs a friend, Jaden, and you haven't exactly been that yet."

Jaden couldn't deny that. It was true that all he had done last night was wallow in self pity and contemplate Chazz's situation. He could've just as easily avoided his current situation by employing Zane's help earlier.

"...but you know what," so Zane had been talking while Jaden was thinking. He hoped he hadn't missed anything important, "at least you bothered to come now."

Zane closed his eyes for a moment and faced towards the ocean again. Jaden let the silence wash over them until Zane was ready to speak.

Just as Jaden was wondering if Zane had forgotten he was here, the Obelisk boy turned around. He opened his eyes and graced Jaden with a small smile.

"So what do you plan on doing now?" His voice was gentle when he spoke. The anger was gone from his eyes.

"Well... I have to get him to talk, right?" Zane nodded, even though they both knew the question was rhetorical. "So I'll lure him out of his room. Or catch him when he's going to class! But either way, I figured I'll take him to the cafeteria. We can have some fried shrimp and talk about what's been going on! Fried shrimp has to help!"

At that Zane looked rather conflicted.

"You're... You're not serious about that, are you? You really think that's going to help? Chazz needs to get this off his chest Jaden, not eat some food."

"But, Zane, it's his favorite and my favorite and nothing brings people together like food! And-"

"You can't solve all your problems with fried shrimp, Jaden!" Zane cut him off angrily, "especially not this one! So march your ass down to Chazz and do what I told you before!"

By the end of his sentence Zane's voice had turned into a snarl, and his hand had subconsciously come to rest on his hip.

Jaden wanted to laugh at the rather sassy pose the normally cool headed boy was in. But he valued his life, so he kept his head down and his mouth shut.

"Yeah I got it. Trust me, I want to help Chazz just as much as you do. I promise I'll talk to him this time, and I'll come back right away if it doesn't work out," he added in a hurry.

Zane crossed his arms and nodded sternly to the boy in front of him before turning back towards the ocean as Jaden quickly left for the Slifer dorms.

* * *

><p>Jaden had made it half way to the Slifer dorm when he heard it.<p>

"No! Please! Just...I'll... No! Don't... Don't do that please!"

Jaden ran towards the noise; a part of him was hard wired to help people in need, but a larger part recognized the voice. It was Chazz.

"Please, I'm sorry! I'll do better! Just don't hurt me!"

His voice broke on the last word, and with the quiet that set in afterward Jaden could hear Chazz's gasping breaths. He had his arms over his head, his knees to his chest, and from the sounds of it he wasn't getting in enough air to make up for the crying. Tears rolled down Chazz's face and dripped off his chin as he let out heaving sobs.

Jaden froze. A big part of him knew this was the chance he had been waiting for. With Chazz distressed and panicking he could swoop in and comfort him, let him know he had a friend. He could do what Zane had so forcefully demanded. Another part of him knew that Chazz would probably prefer to be left alone. But he squished that part down because right now Chazz needed help, whether he thought so or not.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, so so sorry! Please... Just don't do that! No, don't hurt me!"

Chazz's voice was high pitched and wavering, and on the last word he wrapped his hands around his throat. He screamed bloody murder at the contact and Jaden got the feeling that Chazz didn't realize they were his own hands.

An instant later Chazz was clawing at his clothes; the black coat had been discarded a few steps away and there was already a tear in the neck of his turtleneck from where his fingers were working to tear the fabric apart. Chazz curled himself into a ball, shielding his head with his hands and shivering.

Chazz wasn't going to stop anytime soon, and in his panic, Jaden forgot to be quiet. He came barreling down the path towards Chazz, sneakers slapping the dirt loudly. When Chazz heard the sound he snapped his jaw shut immediately and all talking stopped. He clutched his arms around his middle and desperately tried to shrink into the ground. His body shivered uncontrollably.

Jaden leapt the rest of the way down the path to kneel in front of Chazz. He wrapped his arms around the boy and tugged, forcing Chazz to tumble into his arms and onto his lap. Immediately the black haired boy began clawing his way out of Jaden's grip. His nails raked down Jaden's arm more than once, but the brunet did no more than hiss slightly in pain.

"Shh, Chazz, Chazz, it's me. It's Jaden. You're okay, you're safe," he said, "I won't let anything happen to you. Calm down, that's it, calm. We're okay. I've got you."

He pet the boys unruly hair with one hand and kept the other laced firmly behind Chazz's back. Chazz whimpered, and fat, crystalline tears dripped down his face as he sobbed into his hands. He was still sitting in Jaden's lap, more of a jumbled heap than anything, and so when the other boy grabbed him in a tight hug, Chazz buried his face into Jaden's chest.

With his arms wrapped securely around Chazz, Jaden couldn't help but notice how small he was. He was tiny, and fragile, and oh so very broken. He had thought Chazz was small without the flowing jacket, but now he knew different. The broken shell of Chazz curled into his arms was small. And it scared Jaden just as much as it made him feel protective.

He stretched the distance to where the black jacket lay. It was difficult, what with not wanting to disrupt the boy in his arms. With one hand he shook off as much dust as he could and draped it around it's owner's shoulders. Chazz curled into him even more at the touch, and Jaden tucked the jacket around his body to shield him from the ocean breeze. Chazz shivered slightly before taking hold of the spiked collar and pulling it into his face. He wiped his tears on the fabric and then slumped against Jaden's chest, too tired to care about what had just happened. He fisted one hand into Jaden's own jacket when the boy holding him moved.

"Don't let them get me," he whispered. "Please, Jaden." His voice was muffled and tired and wet.

"No one's coming Chazz, you're safe. You're on Academy Island and I won't let anyone get to you."

Chazz opted to not respond and instead pulled the jacket snugly around his body before leaning heavily onto Jaden. He curled one arm around the boys shoulder and pulled so that they were chest to chest, with Chazz's head in the crook of Jaden's neck.

Soon enough the boy's breathing returned to normal and his heart slowed down. He had his eyes closed and Jaden could feel the sticky tears drying on his neck where Chazz had brushed against him.

"Chazz, you gotta tell me what's going on. You can't do this to yourself. What happened?"

Chazz didn't answer the question immediately. He pulled the jacket even tighter around himself, if that was possible, to shield the small sliver visible of his face.

Jaden's voice was quieter when he spoke next; it held more sympathy. "Chazz, you can't keep doing this to yourself. Something's wrong, something's definitely wrong. I'm here for you, Chazz. I know you may not think so, I know you don't think you have anyone. But I want to be here for you, and I'll do whatever it takes until you see I'm willing to be a friend you can tell anything to."

If things had gone as they did in Jaden's head, Chazz would have hugged him and poured out his heart.

Instead, Jaden was pushed back onto the ground as Chazz nimbly climbed up from his lap to stand, towering- even though he was shorter than the boy on the ground- over him.

"Listen, slacker. I don't need your help, I don't need anyone's help. I'm the Chazz, you got that? And even if I did have a problem I wouldn't stoop down so low as to talk to you!"

In theory, the words should have hurt. But when Chazz turned away, Jaden got a clear look at his face. More tears glittered precariously at the corners of his eyes. He bit his lip hard to keep from letting them escape, but Jaden didn't miss the clear bead of water that streaked down his face. Chazz sniffed almost inaudibly and began to walk away, trying to hold on to the small shreds of dignity he had left. He clutched his jacket in one hand, and Jaden could see it was shaking.

Without stopping to think, Jaden rushed forward and tackled the boy in a hug. He held Chazz right to his chest and whispered in his ear.

"I'm here, Chazz."

It was so simple a statement, even rather cliche, but Chazz let out a whimper and turned himself in Jaden's embrace as the tears began to fall freely.

Jaden smiled sadly as he rubbed Chazz's back, and for the second time that day he held the Slifer boy as he broke down.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. **

**Authors note: I'm sooo sorry this chapter took so long! I've been back in school for a little while now so I've been getting into that routine again and then it was my birthday... But no excuses, I'll have the chapters up regularly, and the next one should be up sooner considering part of it is already written. :) And thank you a billion to all my loyal reviewers and followers. I love you all! **

Chazz didn't move from Jaden's arms even after he had stopped crying. He wouldn't admit to it- at least, probably not- that Jaden gave pretty good hugs, and that his head fit pretty well against Jaden's neck. It was relaxing, being able to lean his weight on the Slifer boy; the crying and anxiety had made him tired, and he figured that was a perfect reason to justify the way he snuggled into the other boy.

Jaden's arms were wrapped snugly around his waist, and in turn Chazz's arms had snuck into place around Jaden's shoulders. It felt right, felt comfortable, and Chazz had the feeling that they should've done this much sooner.

They stood curled against each other until Chazz decided that the length of time they had been embracing was verging on cuddling territory. Reluctantly, he pulled himself away. Jaden's arms loosened immediately and Chazz found he couldn't meet the surprised gaze that followed.

He sniffed once as he brought a hand up to wipe at the layer of tears on his face. They had dried in uneven rows, and he feared they were somehow ruining his appearance.

No one spoke, and it was then that Chazz realized how pathetic he must look. Here he was, The Chazz, former top Obelisk, crying into Jaden's arms like a baby. What would the slacker think of him now? Probably nothing good.

Chazz's breathing hitched as he turned away to walk back to his dorm. He could contemplate what he had done there, go over every small detail and beat himself up about how he had probably ruined their friendship.

Jaden, however, had more to say. He pounced directly into conversation just as Chazz made to turn away.

"C'mon Chazz, you really have to tell me what happened."

He stepped forward and grabbed Chazz's shoulder, and Chazz was practically pulled backwards from the force. He turned back around, almost dropping his jacket as he regained his balance.

"No, I really don't." He said, voice frosted with anger and something else even Chazz himself didn't understand.

"No, Chazz, you do. You can't just cry for half an hour and then pretend nothing's wrong," Jaden put both hands on Chazz's shoulders and bent down slightly to look the shorter boy in the eye. "I meant what I said. Every word of it. Maybe you're used to being alone and maybe you like it but no matter what you think or say I'm going to be your friend."

Chazz faltered, stuck between maintaining his cold, holier-than-thou attitude and admitting to how nice Jaden sounded when he said things like that. As much as he hated to admit it, maybe he was lonely.

"C'mon Chazzaroo, it won't be so bad. We can talk and then have fried shrimp! It'll all be ok."

Jaden looked so hopeful. He looked excited and happy and so ready to help Chazz. Maybe Jaden's help wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he really did need someone. And maybe fried shrimp and talking wouldn't make everything ok, but it sure would make him feel better.

"Alright... But we're going to my room," Chazz said, "I refuse to step foot into that disaster you call a dorm." He smiled weakly at the end, trying to laugh at his own joke.

Jaden laughed. "Whatever you say, friend." He clapped Chazz on the back and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. He smiled down at his black haired companion, and even though Chazz was beyond nervous, he found himself returning a smile of his own.

The first time they encountered other students, Chazz seamlessly floated ahead of Jaden, head raised and false confidence back. It made Jaden wonder just how long Chazz had been putting up an act, and he felt like the answer wasn't one he wanted to hear.

When the group of Ra's passed, Chazz stopped and waited for Jaden to catch up. He looked apologetic, guilty even, and Jaden couldn't help but think he looked like a lost little kid. Chazz clutched his jacket in both hands, giving the brunet the feeling that he thought Jaden would abandon him over what had just happened.

He opened his arm to the side again in invitation as he approached Chazz. The other Slifer looked slightly sheepish and more than a little surprised; but it didn't stop him from settling back into Jaden's hold. This time he even wrapped his own arm around Jaden's middle as the other boy picked up the edge of Chazz's jacket that was dragging along the ground.

Chazz's thoughts drifted as he walked. They went from how nice it felt to be with Jaden to how nervous he was to talk about what had happened to how good it felt to have a friend and back to how nice it felt to be with Jaden.

It wasn't just the way his arm warmed Chazz's whole body, or the way Jaden periodically squeezed his shoulder when he tensed up. It was how new it felt to know Jaden would listen to everything he said and be there for him. He felt special, knowing that Jaden really did care and that all this time he hadn't just pretended to be his friend, as so many people before him had.

A part of Chazz knew that what he was feeling pushed the boundaries of normal friendship. But he chalked it up being unaccustomed to having friends like this- or friends at all- and brushed it off to worry about later.

They had reached the Slifer dorm at this point, and Chazz's anxiety crashed over him. He felt his hands shake as inserted the key into the lock on his door. He was about to tell Jaden everything. He was about to bare his soul to his rival.

He swung the door open feebly, only taking time to kick off his shoes, before darting into the bathroom beside his bed.

"Uhh... Chazz?" The Slifer boy didn't answer, and Jaden found himself standing awkwardly in the doorway. The room was painfully silent.

After a moment, Jaden shrugged and followed Chazz's initiative. He closed the door behind him, took off his shoes and ventured into the space. It was bigger than his, majorly so, and had been crafted to appear more expensive than anything that belonged in the Slifer dorms.

Chazz's Obelisk jacket still hung on the wall, he noticed, pressed flat and free of dust. His white jacket hung beside it, a little further away and a little less well kept. His room was surprisingly bare; bare for Chazz, anyway.

The bed took up the majority of the space (and Jaden had to admit, it was pretty soft and definitely not school ordered). A dresser, desk, and chair huddled in the cut out to the right, opposite a plasma screen television and a small couch.

A dark wooden picture frame stood alone on the dresser. Jaden snuck quietly towards it, wondering how he had missed it the first time he had been in Chazz's room (considering it was about the only personal thing in the room besides the jackets). In it was a picture of Chazz, much younger, with two boys about twelve years old. They had been captured laughing with each other, and Chazz had the happiest expression Jaden had ever seen on the boys face. It was ruined, however, by the thick crack that split the glass on the side. It fractured and spider webbed out, marring the picture. It looked like it had been smashed on the floor.

It was obvious what the picture was of, and deep down Jaden knew he shouldn't ask about it. Not so deep down he had the feeling that the other two boys in the picture had to do with why Chazz had been acting so strange.

Chazz re-entered the room just as Jaden made to pick up the picture frame. Chazz had his hands folded in front of him in a way that made him look much younger and much more nervous than Jaden thought he should be. He twisted the bottom of his turtleneck with both hands and self consciously made his way to the bed to curl up near the headboard.

His face was red, like it had been scrubbed to erase the tears, and Jaden noticed he had taken off the belt and traded his normal attire in for a blue sweater.

"Want to duel first? Maybe it'll relax you." Jaden said, ending with a playful smile. He had noticed just how tense and scared Chazz looked, and he found it only natural to comfort him

Chazz cracked a small smile and responded with a breathy laugh. "No, no I think that's ok."

Jaden's smile widened and he made his way over to where Chazz sat. He flopped down in front of Chazz to lay sprawled across the bed with his head near Chazz's knee. He put his hand on the boys lower leg.

"Alright, time for the first session of Jaden Yuki's best friend bonding time. Pour your heart out, Chazzaroo, I'm here to listen buddy."

Chazz shivered and brought one of the pillows beside him to his chest. He clutched it in his lap as he opened his mouth to speak. Jaden stared up at the ceiling, waiting for him to begin, and when he didn't he sat up and took Chazz's hand.

"It's ok. You can do it." He squeezed the pale hand in his own and looked sincerely into wide grey eyes before settling back into his old position.

Chazz swallowed. He adjusted the pillow, and Jaden felt the grip on his hand tighten.

"Alright. Well, the first thing you need to know is..."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**Authors note: Ok so this chapter took this long because basically it's the most important part of the story, and I had to get it right! Spoiler (kinda) there was NO rape, only abuse. Just wanted to tell you before people mention it in reviews and what not. And again, thank you all for the lovely reviews! Enjoy! :) **

"Alright. Well, the first thing you need to know is..." Chazz paused, shook his head in doubt, and then continued on in a wavering voice. "The first thing you need to know is that my family's not the best. We have a lot of money, yeah, but... my brothers don't like me a whole lot. Or if they do they don't show it.

"They're both really successful, and they work really hard and because of it they got places. Jagger's amazing at business; he runs our company. Slade's the best politican there is; he knows all the right people and all the right things to say. And then there's me. I haven't done a whole lot, except go to fancy dueling schools to become a pro and then end up losing it all anyway."

By the end, his voice had taken on a bitter tone. Jaden knew the last part was a jab at him, at the way he had tarnished Chazz's record, but he couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed. Chazz looked so sad; his head was down, and his free hand was toying with the pillow, and Jaden knew that whatever he was saying now was only how he felt.

"I went to duel prep, and I was the top student there. Everyone knew what I was going to do one day. I was going to be the best duelist there was, the next king of games. My brothers were so proud of me," his voice cracked on the last sentence, a sound of wistfulness and longing for something far gone.

"And then Duel Academy came along." Chazz's voice got quieter, "when they found out I was the top freshman, Slade and Jagger were so happy. And for a while I... I thought that maybe that was the point where they'd finally accept me. But then you and Bastion came along, and I lost my title. First to that Ra Yellow, with all his decks and attitudes, and then to you, the Slifer Slacker."

He ended in a sharp tone tinged with bitterness and clenched one of his fists. His eyes narrowed in something between sorrow and anger, and he pinned his gaze on the bed like he was reliving those moments.

Something flared up inside of Jaden. Even though, once again, he knew Chazz meant no harm by his words, they angered him.

"Hey, I'm not a slacker, Chazz. I won fair and square." Jaden couldn't help it. A subconcious part of him wouldn't stand for being ridiculed like that, and the words were out before he could register what he had said.

Chazz's head snapped up. His expression morphed from one of sorrow to anger as he dropped Jaden's hand and leaned forward.

"Oh yeah? I know you won that duel, Jaden, I know. And that's all well and good for you, but it's not that easy for the rest of us. You lose a duel, you brush it off and you're ready to go again just like that. But you want to know what happened to me, you want to know what happens when a Princeton loses? Huh?" Jaden tried to sit up, but Chazz had his body planted firmly above him. "You want to know what Slade and Jagger did?"

Chazz hesitated, and his breath caught in his throat as he clenched his fingers around the hem of his shirt. Jaden took the opportunity to sit himself up, and he reached forward just as Chazz lifted his shirt and, in barely a whisper, said:

"They beat me."

He didn't speak after that, just dropped his head and held his shirt up over his chest with trembling arms. Bruises littered the exposed area, some light purple and others the yellow tinge of healing. His chest heaved uncontrollably as he tried to keep back his tears.

"Oh, Chazz."

No one moved. Jaden was stuck between comforting Chazz and staring at the bruises in disbelief. He reached out to the boy and he didn't know if he intended to touch the marks- to solidify that yes, this had happened- or to pull Chazz into his arms.

Chazz flinched back just as Jaden's hand closed around his wrist. He dropped his shirt and curled his arms around his body. A whimper escaped him, a sound that was small and sad and painful for Jaden to hear.

"They beat me up because I lost, because I'm a failure and I couldn't win one pathetic duel." Chazz's voice trailed off like he didn't have the strength- both mentally and physically- to continue talking. He looked rather detached from himself, with his eyes trained on the edge of the bed, but his voice brimmed with emotions too strong to hide.

"Oh, Chazz, oh no, you're not a failure." Jaden's voice was soft and his words were tinged with sadness. "Just because you didn't win one duel doesn't mean anything. You don't deserve what happened to you. No matter what. You could lose a thousand duels and you would never deserve it."

Chazz scoffed as he listened to Jaden speak, a sound cut short by a sob. He looked up into brown eyes and bit his lip.

"Don't you get it? I lose once, and then I lose again and again and then I'll never be good enough," he said. "This is my life, Jaden. My entire life."

He looked so sad. So sad and helpless and lost that Jaden couldn't help but pull him into his arms.

"If I lose this then I lose everything. At least you have friends, and people to support you." Chazz's shoulders drooped, like the weight of what he was saying was too much, and his body had finally given out.

"It's just, I, I feel so alone sometimes. I've spent my life preparing for this, preparing to be great. I've lived this long thinking that if I was successful I would be loved; by my brothers, by everyone. And I don't have that success. So I don't have any friends, and anyone can tell my brothers don't want anything to do with me.

"I try to make friends, I really do, and I just can't. I don't have social skills. I'm not good with people. Everyone thinks of me as the arrogant rich kid who thinks he's going to be the next king of games. And yeah, I am that Chazz a lot, but I don't always want to be.

"And you, everyone wants to be your friend. You're a top duelist, and you're so nice, and you have no problem talking to people."

He took a deep breath and buried his head into Jaden's shoulders before speaking again, much softer this time.

"It's just... I'm jealous of you Jaden. So, so jealous."

Chazz left it at that, and Jaden didn't need him to explain to understand the meaning. Chazz was envious of his lifestyle; not just his innate talent for dueling, but his personality and the things he had.

It was no surprise to anyone that Chazz could be counted as one of the least liked people on campus. He was rude, and had a habit of treating everyone- besides a few select people, like Atticus, Alexis, and Zane- like they were unworthy of him. His immense wealth had molded him into a spoiled child accustomed to getting everything he wanted. He was far from the most personable student, and had a collection of sharp insults that could make anyone cry. Jaden had no doubt that Chazz's personality was at least somewhat genuinely comprised of these traits, but that deeper down he guarded a more vulnerable soul.

From what he had learned today, Jaden could see that Chazz was constantly shivering beneath his brothers shadows. He had a lot to live up to; success, fame, and wealth beyond most people's dreams. He had been pinned down and shaped into this life since he had been young, and that experience had taken it's toll. It was no wonder, being told that the only two options in life were becoming the next king of games or failure could mess anyone up. And being beaten when for a slight misstep didn't help either.

Chazz's head was heavy on his shoulder, and as he looked down, Jaden noticed that Chazz was winding a strand of dark hair around his finger. It twirled around his pale skin like a river, and the action seemed both charmingly childish and calming.

On an impulse he hugged the boy, like a closing and a thanks for all the information he had shared. Chazz made a surprised sound in the back of his throat and his body immediately tensed. His back became rigid and the strand of hair he had been twirling slipped from his fingers. It settled back into it's place, slightly curled and out of place beside it's pin straight companions. Jaden didn't understand why he was so surprised, afterall Chazz had practically been sitting on his lap throughy the latter part of the conversation. So he hugged Chazz tighter, to let him know that nothing was going to happen and everything was okay. Slowly, Jaden felt the tension flow out of him and Chazz hesitantly reached his arms up to return the hug. They sat like for a solid minute, and Jaden would have been happy with just the hug, but Chazz seemed to want more comfort.

He squeezed Jaden's shoulders and pulled him down to lie on the bed. Jaden stiffened in shock as Chazz settled himself alongside him, never removing his arms from their spot. He got a mouthful of shiny black hair as Chazz wiggled himself into place, which turned out to be situated comfortably up against Jaden with his head on his red clothed chest. Chazz tangled their legs together in a way that started out shy and progressively got more confident as he nudged his lower leg between Jaden's.

The brunette boy sighed contentedly and lowered his arms around Chazz's torso, pulling him closer. They relaxed into each other, contouring together like they had been doing this for years instead of seconds.

They didn't speak. Their previous conversation and the fear of ruining the moment kept them quiet. Slowly they relaxed even more, and Jaden was able to feel the way Chazz leaned into him as he dropped off into sleep, exhausted from the day's events. One hand curled around the sleeve of Jaden's jacket, and the other grabbed the fabric covering his back. Jaden pulled Chazz closer, and smoothed a strand of hair back from his face. He didn't know if Chazz was truly asleep yet or not, but he said it anyway.

"Don't be jealous Chazz. I'd rather have you just the way you are."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own, not am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX **

**Author's note: Alright get ready for some rivalshipping! It's about time honestly :) this chapter was also originally much longer, but I decided the ending was better off on it's own, so know that part of the next chapter is written as well and the it should be out soon. I don't have much else to say, except happy holidays to all of you, and thank you all so so so much for the reviews and follows and favorites! **

The days following Chazz's confession were filled with hugs and secret glances.

I'm public, Chazz kept his distance. He showed no more affection towards Jaden than normal, and in return Jaden did the same. He understood that Chazz was very self-conscious about what the other students would think if he was overly affectionate with Jaden- even though in his heart he knew people weren't paying attention to the black haired boy. They had other things to worry about- grades, duels, love lives- that pushed the snarky ex-Obelisk from their minds.

For Jaden, it wasn't as hard. Encouraging Chazz to sit with them at lunch or walking with him to class wasn't out of the normal. It had been a regular occurance since Chazz had come to the Slifer dorms- since Jaden had noticed he didn't have many, or any, people he could consider friends. And even if Chazz wasn't keen on accepting the offers to sit with Bastion and Syrus and the other at lunch, everyone knew Jaden at least out the effort in. Only difference now was that Chazz was, slowly, giving in to Jaden's requests.

"So how's your day going, Chazz?"

Jaden shut the door to Chazz's room as the black haired boy shrugged off his jacket. Classes had just ended for the day, and as was becoming normal, the two had returned to Chazz's dorm to talk.

"Not bad, kinda boring in class today though." He threw the jacket on the bed and turned around to see Jaden standing inches away from him. He made a halfhearted groan of protest as Jaden smiled and wrapped him into a hug- something that had become quite normal, not that he was complaining.

And not that he'd say that out loud.

"Oh yeah? Why? Did you already know what was being taught?"

Chazz made an annoyed noise and laid his head on Jaden's shoulder. "Obviously. Spell card basics? I learned that back in baby prep school."

"I wouldn't exactly call them basics, Chazzy."

"...shut up, Slacker."

Chazz smiled against the red clad shoulder, and he knew Jaden must have felt it because he laughed and pulled Chazz tighter against him.

"Look at that, I'm making Chazz Princeton smile. Never thought I'd see the day."

The smile stretched wider. He pushed Jaden away to arms length, and was planning on responding with one of his famous comebacks. At least, until he looked up.

Jaden was running his fingers through his hair in that casual, trademark way of his. One hand rested sheepishly behind his head, and his eyes were squinted shut from the grin he was wearing. He looked so cute. So good that Chazz wanted nothing more than to hug him and never let go. Something pulled at his stomach, something fluttery and foreign and in that moment he forgot what he had been planning to say.

"Uhh, Chazz? You okay there buddy? You're looking a little pale." Jaden stopped his concerned look to scrunch his nose up in confusion. "Well, paler than normal, I guess. You're pretty fair to begin with. But no, no that's not the point. Is there something wrong?"

And the only thing Chazz had to respond with was an unintelligible "uhh, what?"

Jaden frowned and leaned forward. "Are you sick? Is there something bothering you?"

"N-no, no Jaden, I'm fine. I just, uhh, just got a little dizzy for a second, that's all." The last half of his sentence was slurred, his voice teetering out on the last word so much that Jaden had to lean even closer to catch it. Deep red flooded over his cheeks, and Chazz immediately felt his embarrassment skyrocket. Jaden seemed to believe the lie though, but it only took him a second to decide that wasn't such a good thing.

"You need to sit down then, Chazzy. And you're so red, are you sure you don't have a fever?"

Jaden cupped a hand around Chazz's elbow and pulled him closer. He put one hand on Chazz's shoulder, wrapping part of his arm around to gently cradle the purple sweater around the base of his neck as if he was keeping the boy from falling. Jaden's other hand rose up to Chazz's forehead and brushed a strand or two of the dark hair back before coming to rest on his skin. Jaden was looking up, slightly over Chazz's shoulder, in concentration as he tried to determine whether or not he felt Chazz was, indeed, sick.

If there was anything Chazz was unprepared for, it was definitly this. He gasped, and reflexively flinched backwards from Jaden's hand. The movement knocked him backwards, and he barely had enough time to throw both hands behind him and catch himself on the edge of the dresser. The picture of himself with Jagger and Slade clattered against the wood.

It only got worse when Chazz saw that Jaden had fallen as well, not being able to get his hand away from the back of Chazz's neck in time. His hands were splayed against the dresser as well, and his legs were spread wide as an attempt to catch himself. He was leaning over Chazz, eyes wide and so close that their chests were almost touching, catching his breath from the surprise.

Jaden's eyes were so dark. Like the color of the wood in Chazz's childhood bedroom. They were filled with concern-concern for Chazz, and wasn't that a little uplifting, to know someone cared- and something that Chazz couldn't quite place.

But somehow he knew his eyes held the same thing.

"Chazzy, are you ok? What happened? I'm not going to hurt you, if that's what's got you so scared. I would never, I promise."

Jaden hadn't moved away, hadn't switched their positions one bit. The worry in his eyes increased, deepening the colors and making Chazz's heart ache just that much more.

Chazz whimpered. A needy, strangled sound. It wasn't from fear, like Jaden thought, but from the fact that the brown haired boy was right there. So close and so much more perfect than Chazz had ever imagined.

Chazz looked down at himself, embarrassed by the idea that Jaden thought he was scared of him. He mumbled something unintelligible, tempted to bring his hands to his collar like he tended to do in stressful times, before realizing that doing so would mean falling flat on his back and humiliating himself even more.

In his moment of insecurity, he didn't notice the way Jaden leaned closer. The way one hand left the table and the way Jaden's head tilted ever so slightly to the right.

He only noticed when the hand fluttered at his chin and when the soft, breathy "Chazz" floated through the air.

He most definitely noticed, when he lifted his head, the way his head automatically tilted to match Jaden's and the way two pairs of chocolate brown eyes slid closed.

He would most definitely never forget the first time they kissed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own, not am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh GX! **

**Authors Note: See I told you this would be up pretty fast! And it's also the first posting of 2015! Syrus is hella out of character, but it had to be done. If I can make Zane extra sassy I might as well make Syrus an asshole huh? But maybe he's just jealous (as you'll read soon)? Tell me what you think in your comments :) **

"Just put the blanket down here! By the time you find a place you like it'll be dark."

Chazz had his hands on his hips, a frown on his face, and playfulness in his eyes. "Hurry it up Slacker, I want to eat."

Jaden turned around. He snapped the blanket at his boyfriend and stuck his tongue out like a little child before settling the edges of the fabric and plopping himself down. Chazz's frown melted. He had one hand across his stomach as he laughed, a sound that was delicate and airy and made Jaden's heart speed up. His other hand was dangling at his side and Jaden grabbed it, jerking Chazz down to sprawl next to him. The upper half of his body landed in Jaden's lap, and instead of moving like the brunett expected him too, he curled up and settled his head on Jaden's chest, tucking his head beneath Jaden's chin.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, no talking, and no sounds except for the seagulls in the distance and the waves washing onto the sand. No other students were around, which would have surprised Jaden if he hadn't already known that he and Chazz were among the only people willing to trek this far from the school.

"C-Chazz?" Jaden gasped as he felt a pair of lips begin to lap at his neck. His black haired companion was leaving light kisses up and down, stopping every so often to nibble and suck at a particular spot. Jaden sighed, feeling slightly awkward and more than a little turned on, and he tilted his neck back so that Chazz could get better access.

His hands came up to wrap around Chazz's waist, pulling at the blue shirt he wore and slipping the fabric up automatically. He ran his hands up Chazz's spine slowly and gently, letting his fingers ghost over every bump and relishing the way Chazz shivered.

Chazz's own hands soon came to rest at Jaden's hips, one precariously close to dipping under the waistband of his pants while the other traced it's way up to tangle in his hair. He detached his lips from Jaden's neck and immediately pounced for a kiss. He shifted so he was straddling Jaden's lap entirely and pressed their hips and chests together as he bit Jaden's lower lip.

Jaden, having previously been oblivious to anything romantic, had been given quite the lesson on kissing the past few weeks and now knew exactly what to do.

When they finally broke away for air, both of them panting and flushed, Chazz immediately went back to his ministrations on Jaden's neck. Although he couldn't deny that he enjoyed it immensely, Jaden's eyes kept darting to the basket of food Chazz had brought along. His stomach growled as thought of the sandwhiches and rice and, most importantly, fried shrimp.

"So, uh, I hate to inturrupt, but are we going to eat now?"

He smiled sheepishly down at the boy in his lap as Chazz sat up and shot him a glare.

"Unbelieveable. I guess your mind is always on food."

He crawled out of his boyfriends lap, making sure to look as seductive as could manage, before tugging the basket over and emptying it's contents. Little plastic containers rolled out along with plates, forks, and napkins, and Chazz motioned to Jaden to grab some.

"You better be awfully hungry, because I brought a lot of food and Dorothy won't be happy if it goes to waste."

"Have you ever know me to waste food, Chazzy?" He put his hand over his heart and looked at Chazz as if he had just suggested giving up dueling. "And here I thought you really knew me."

Chazz rolled his eyes and shoved another shrimp in his mouth. "Yeah, yeah, now be quiet and eat." He smirked, wiped a drop of soy sauce off the corner of his mouth with one finger, and then proceeded to suck it clean. He wiggled his eyebrows at Jaden, who found himself unable to do more than stare and blush.

"Stop staring at me and eat, Slacker. That's what you wanted a second ago." Chazz grinned devilishly and blew Jaden a kiss. He picked up his plate and shifted over to snuggle against the brunett. Jaden instinctively tucked his arm around Chazz and pulled him closer, who in return picked up a piece of shrimp and fed it to Jaden. As he chewed, Jaden noticed that Chazz was staring at him, and when he went to ask what was wrong, Chazz snapped his gaze back to his plate.

"Chazz?" Jaden asked, concerned, "what's wr-"

"You know, I really like you Slacker," Chazz cut him off. He looked up from his plate to smile nervously at Jaden. "And... and I'm really glad I finally opened up to you. You're the best friend I've ever had."

He kissed Jaden's collar bone before burying his head into the red jacket contentedly. Jaden smiled down at him, running his hands through the wild strands of black hair.

"...I love you too Chazz." He kissed the top of Chazz's head.

"I love you too, Jaden."

"So what's up with Chazz?"

Syrus didn't even wait for Jaden to put his tray on the table before he launched into questions. The cafeteria was almost entirely empty, save for a few Slifer's eating quietly at the opposite end of the room. They looked up at the noise before deeming it none of their business and returned to their conversation.

"Whaddya mean, Sy? Chazz is Chazz, there's nothing up with him."

The blue haired boy let out an annoyed sigh and pointed his fork at Jaden.

"You and him, I mean. I know you've always tried to be close with him, but he's never really seemed to care. At least up until now. But all of a sudden you two are joined at the hip, you walk with him to and from every class _and he lets you_!"

The brunett stared at him blankly. "Well yeah," he started, "Chazz isn't such a bad guy once you get to know him, what's wrong with me making friends with him?"

Syrus slammed his fork down on his tray and stood up. He was eye to eye with Jaden, and not as intmitdating as he probably hoped to be, but it was obvious he was very angry about something.

"The _problem_ is that it's Chazz! Chazz Princeton, former know it all, ex-Obelisk, rich, snobby Chazz Princeton! That kid's hated you from the moment he saw you beat Crowler. He knows you're a thousand times better than he is, and you know it too. And all of a sudden, just because he gets booted down the ranks and loses all his fancy living arrangements, just because he has no friends, since no one in their right mind would want to spend time with that prick, you pity him! You're feeling bad for the one guy who would do whatever it took to see you beaten.

"Just because he got a little wake up call and realized that his money couldn't get him everywhere in life, you think his personality has changed? You think that a few months of being away with his insanely rich brothers and his fancy houses will turn him into a sympathetic nice guy?"

The part about Chazz's brothers stirred something not so deep inside of Jaden. The hours he had spent with Chazz, holding him as he sobbed about what had happened, the bruises, the loss of self esteem, all came piling to the front of his mind.

"Don't say that, Syrus," he hissed. "You saw what happened at the School Duel, Chazz is terrified of disappointing Slade and Jagger. He's under so much pressure from them and I'm sure you'd crack if half of that was put on it.

"And he's lonely! You can't see it? All he does is spend time alone in his room! No one even bothered to care when he came back a few weeks ago. You're right, he has no friends, and even if he was all those things you said, everyone deserves to have friends!"

Syrus' eyes widened and he gasped. He pointed an accusatory finger at his brunett friend and practically whispered his next question. "Why are you defending him like this? What's going on Jaden? Sure, I've known from the moment Chazz got to this dorm that you'd try to befriend him. But this is going past the 'friendship' boundaries. Constantly walking with him, disappearing into his room for hours on end? Do you really think no one noticed that you spent an entire night in his room? And today! You disappeared off with him for pretty much the entire day!"

Jaden pushed his tray to the side, and leaned forward as he finished what he had been saying. Syrus leaned in too, eye to eye with his friend with barely three inches between their faces.

"Jaden Yuki, answer this." His voice dropped a few decibels. "Are you dating Chazz?"

"Well, I, uh." Jaden shrank back in his seat as Syrus practically threw himself over the table. It made him angry, that he had to defend his relationship from the person who was supposed to be his best friend.

"You are!" Syrus scoffed. "You, Jaden Yuki, are dating Chazz Princeton, biggest has-been of Duel Academy?"

"Hey! You better watch it Syrus Truesdale. Just because you don't like Chazz doesn't make him a bad person. You haven't seen what I've seen, you haven't talked to him like I have. And yeah that's generic and kinda cheesy, but he's opened up to me. The only reason he's so cold is because no one here cares to listen to him. They judge and they talk about him without knowing what he's been through, so no wonder he doesn't let any of you see the real him!

"And maybe I am dating him! Wait, no, take that back, I am dating him. And there's not a single thing you can do or say that's going to make me break up with him."

Jaden ended his speech by slamming his fist on the table in a way that was totally un-Jaden like. Syrus could do nothing more than stare, his mouth open and his eyes wide and angry. He was trying to think of something Jaden knew, something he could say in retaliation. But he had had enough, and at this point he was so angry that he needed to leave before something got said that permanently ruined his and Syrus' friendship.

He didn't understand how Syrus and Zane could have such opposite opinions of Chazz.

When Jaden stomped out of the cafeteria, all clenched fists and deep frowns, Chazz was leaning against the wall. Jaden took one look at him and knew he had heard the conversation with Syrus. But instead of looking sad and teary, Chazz looked delicately happy and shy.

"I knew you loved me Slacker." There was no thanks, no throwing himself at Jaden in gratitude, but what he had said meant more than any of that.

Jaden slung an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close.

"Anytime, Chazzy."


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. **

**Authors Note: This so so so so overdue, I'm so sorry! I have no excuse other than life got in the way (it's hard to write romance when your own love life is bad) and then this chapter got rewritten because it was originally terrible. And then for some reason I wasn't able to do page breaks on here... But over 50 reviews guys! AND it's officially been a year since I posted this. I'm so glad your enjoying this story, so let's celebrate this little milestone with a new chapter (which, per request, has lots of Zane for Nicholaiz!) Syrus is hella OOC. But aren't we used to that by now?**

It was hard not to feel the tension as he set his tray down the next day.

Syrus was sitting opposite Jaden, busy stabbing spaghetti in a sad attempt to twirl it on his fork. Jaden was quiet, mechanically swiping shrimp through soy sauce like it was his job to erase every trace of the dark liquid.

Both of them were staring at their plates so intently that Chazz figured they didn't even know he was there. He cleared his throat awkwardly and smoothed the sides of his jacket as he sat down.

Nothing. Even the sound of his metal tray settling against the table didn't rouse them.

"Hello, Jaden. Syrus."

Jaden came right to life at that, but Syrus stayed silent. Chazz's boyfriend blinked his eyes rapidly for a second as if he hadn't noticed Chazz was there before popping right into his normal self.

"Hey, Chazzaroo! How's your day going? How was class?" Jaden leant over to pull Chazz against him in a one armed side hug.

"It's going fine, class was fine, but you're suffocating me Slacker."

Jaden squeaked in apology and let go of Chazz, who shifted the collar of his jacket back into place. Jaden smoothed Chazz's hair down. In return he received a jab to the ribs by Chazz's elbow. It was playful though, and hadn't hurt, so he retaliated by poking Chazz on the side of his neck.

Chazz noticed how Syrus raised his eyes from his plate to glare at them.

When he looked down again, Chazz inclined his head toward Syrus in a way that plainly meant "tell me what's going on here." It was hard not to wonder why the two were sitting together during such an obvious fight. Were they really that dedicated to each other? He was hoping Jaden would get the hint and explain in some way, but his boyfriend was oblivious. His head was back down, completely focused on his dinner.

The silence resumed. It hung awkwardly in the air, and gave Chazz the same feeling he got when he walked past the Obelisk dorms.

Uncomfortable, to say the least.

Chazz genuinely wondered if the other two felt the same way about the lack of conversation, but he figured that Syrus was too busy being angry about something, and Jaden was too busy being Jaden. They both seemed blissfully enthralled with their food compared to Chazz, who was sitting stiffly in front of his own bowl of fried shrimp.

Chazz had just about settled himself in to begin eating when something orange appeared in his vision. He turned his head, prepared a suspicious look, and came face to face with the vegetable Jaden had plucked out of his bowl of soup. It was short, fat, orange and positively disgusting.

"I demand you get that thing out of my face." Chazz's delicate nose scrunched up in haughty anger and he leaned as far away from the object as he could while simultaneously swatting Jaden's hand away.

Syrus wondered if Chazz knew how stupid he looked when he did that.

Jaden wondered if Chazz knew how hot he looked when he did that.

"Carrots make me sick, you know that Slacker."

Jaden pushed himself closer. Chazz squirmed away.

"Aw c'mon Chazzy, they're just carrots. Harmless, cute little carrots."

A drop of broth rolled down the carrot and lazily plopped down dangerously close to Chazz's jacket.

"No seriously, I'm telling you, get that thing out of my-"

"Will you two knock it off?"

Syrus stood up so abruptly that his tray wobbled and spilled spaghetti. A meatball drifted precariously to the edge of the table. Syrus's hands were splayed on the wood in a déjà-vu version of the night before. Chazz and Jaden had both ceased their actions- Chazz holding off both of Jaden's arms with the carrot dangling dangerously in front of his mouth, and Jaden bent halfway over his boyfriend- to stare up at the blue haired boy in shock.

"...Is there a problem, Sy?" Jaden retracted himself from Chazz, taking the carrot with him. He popped it in his mouth.

"Is there a problem? You're asking me if there's a problem?" His voice raised to a squeaky octave that wouldn't have been possible out of anyone else.

Jaden nodded silently, at least having the decency to look a mixture of confused and guilty. Syrus switched his gaze between the two- from Chazz, with one eyebrow raised and a "really?" expression, to Jaden with his large eyes seeming to search for an answer to his question.

"I... Ugh!" Syrus let out a frustrated groan before storming out of the cafeteria. Jaden watched him leave, still looking partly confused, but also giving off the air that he knew something about this that Chazz didn't. Just before Syrus disappeared, Jaden's expressions morphed into a smile. One that looked more devilish than had a right to be on his face. He definitely knew something Chazz didn't, and it looked like Syrus had just gotten a strange but of revenge for whatever it was.

With the outburst over, Chazz patted his boyfriends shoulder delicately and returned to his food. It was quiet again, but in a comfortable way, until:

"... So Chazzy are you sure you won't eat that carrot?"

-page break-

"So it seems like you have something to tell me."

Zane stepped smoothly around the boulder Jaden was perched on. He stopped in front of the younger boy with such poise that Jaden was momentarily embarrassed by the way he had almost jolted off the rock. He hadn't heard Zane coming until he had spoken, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared.

"Rumor has it you and Chazz are dating. True? Or have I been lied to?"

Jaden rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and spread a grin across his face. Zane's arms were crossed in a way that was meant to be casual, but still came off as intimidating. The way his eyes were focused so intently, and that perfectly neutral expression on his face did nothing to help the matter either.

"Yeah, yeah you heard right. Me and Chazz are dating!"

"Where is he?"

No "how's it going." No "I'm glad, tell me all the details." Apparently Zane cut right to the questions he wanted answers to, and with the way he was positively radiating a protective older brother aura, Jaden was in no mood to anger him. He wasn't sure which would be worse- upsetting Zane, or Chazz's actual brothers.

"Oh, uh, you see, I harassed him at lunch with this, uh, this carrot." He giggled nervously. "And you know, he isn't particularly fond of carrots, so he's in his room now resting. Told me not to come bother him until he was 'mentally ready to not strangle me'."

Zane raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Sounds like something you would do."

He moved closer to Jaden, who thought the Obelisk boy might want to take a seat beside him on the rock. He shifted himself over a foot.

"No, it's okay, I don't want to sit with you. I don't want to get my jacket dirty, I've got things to do later." Zane eyed the rock distastefully.

"But don't leave either, because I have some things to tell you. We have to make sure you're perfectly clear on this." He said.

"You can trust me, Zane, come tell Jaden all your problems." He patted the rock beside him comfortingly, even though Zane had already said he preferred to stand. And the look the older boy gave him suggested he should have kept that comment to himself.

"I mean, I'll do whatever it is you ask. No problem."

Zane surveyed him a second more. "Good." He said. "Now. You've already proved yourself pretty worthy. Comforting him, getting him to confess everything that happened? That's big. He trusts you an awful lot, Jaden. I haven't even talked to him recently and I know that.

"So that brings us to the small detail that if I find out Chazz is upset about something, and it has to do with you, I'll be after you."

Jaden looked positively stricken. Whether it was at the thought of hurting Chazz or what would come of hurting the boy, Zane didn't know. For all of their sakes he hoped it was the first option.

"Don't look so scared. I trust you too. You've been after him since you both got to this place. And as surrogate older brother, I have to say I'm glad Chazz picked you instead of, ahem, some of the other options here."

Zane directed a distasteful gaze at a group of students noisely playing frisbee.

Jaden decided it was best not to say anything, and settled for nodding obediently. He smiled happily as Zane turned his attention back to him.

"I have to go. I just caught you on my way to the mainland. I'm going to talk to some sponsors for after I graduate, to you know, get a head start in the big leagues. So have a nice day, and don't forget what I said."

"I'll have that locked away forever, no worries," Jaden patted the too of his head, "and good luck with the sponsors! Give 'em all your charm."

Zane nodded once before turning on his heel and leaving. He wasn't very far away when he turned back around.

"Oh and you wouldn't happen to know where my brother is, would you? Maybe once he learns about my possible sponsorship he'll finally get his dueling act together." He muttered.

"Probably in his room. I mean, where else would he be?"

Jaden laughed good-naturedly at his joke, and surprisingly, so did Zane.

-page break-

Syrus knew a perfect opportunity when he saw it.

Chazz had burst into the place like it belonged to him, and that only angered Syrus more. The only satisfying thing was the way Chazz reacted when he noticed him. He stopped just short of calling out Jaden's name and pressed himself awkwardly against the open door.

"Uh, hey Syrus." Chazz said. "You wouldn't happen to know where Jaden is, would you."

Syrus adapted a most coniving smile at that; something that definitely unnerved Chazz because one, Syrus was much too sweet to make that expression, and two, his non threateningly small body and blue fluffy hair added to that poisonous look made for quite the combination.

"I have no idea really," he said, "probably off with Bastion. Or maybe he has detention. That wouldn't be the first time, that's for sure."

Syrus laughed and Chazz awkwardly followed suit. He had never been particularly fond of Syrus, mostly because he found Jaden's roommate to be unnecessarily whiny and annoying. Back before him and Jaden had begun dating, any confrontations between the two of them would end with a teary Syrus and a few new insults for Chazz to add to his book. But now Chazz had been trying his hardest to get along with the smaller boy. If only for Jaden's sake.

"But I'm sure he'll be back soon. Feel free to stay here until then! We haven't talked properly in ages, and now that you're dating Jaden I think we need to mend some bridges, don't you?"

Syrus was sitting on his bed, the second one up, which gave him the feeling of a king holding court. He was physically higher up than Chazz, which to him translated into having the upper hand.

Syrus pointed to the chair placed haphazardly near Jaden's desk. The way he did so clearly meant that Chazz didn't have a choice in whether or not he stayed.

The black haired boy obliged after a moment and took a seat. He could feel Syrus's eyes on him as he walked past, so Chazz made sure to shoot him a confident, rather haughty look as soon as he sat down. He relaxed into the chair, spreading his arms across the back in a very open and relaxed position.

"You're not going to come down here? How do you expect me to tell you all the details of my love life if you're sitting up there like some blue haired bat?"

"I don't want to know anything about that!" Syrus looked rather flustered at the thought of hearing about Jaden's sex life. Chazz couldn't help the smirk that surfaced at the other boy's reaction. "No, I'd much rather talk about you. I don't really know you personally, and I think now's the perfect opportunity. And I can hear everything you have to say just fine from up here."

Chazz narrowed his eyes.

"How about we start with you getting demoted to Slifer Red? Big brothers couldn't save you from running with the low-lives?"

Chazz looked positively furious. Syrus would have to remember that dueling and losing was a sore spot for the youngest Princeton.

"You're willing to insult yourself just to get a jab at me? You are dumber than I thought Syrus. No wonder Zane doesn't want to associate with you." Being nice to this boy was completely off the table. "And if you must know, the only way to get something is to work for it. I figured that if I had to work to get back to the Blues, then I would have that much more experience with hard work when I take over my part of Princeton Corporation."

So that was a lie. But Syrus didn't need to know that. And speaking of Syrus, the blue haired boy was trying not to look defeated and caught off guard. He hadn't been expecting that answer.

"Well why is it taking you so long to get back there?"

"Patience, Syrus. There haven't been any qualifying duels lately and don't you remember? I've just gotten back from vacation."

The last word had a tinge of unconscious anger. Immediately after he said it, Chazz regretted mentioning anything about a so called "vacation," because Syrus latched right onto it.

"Oh yeah! Vacation! I do remember hearing about that somewhere! The whole dorm was in such a bad place knowing their favorite prissy little rich boy would be gone for a few months. How was it?"

Syrus leaned forward like a snake zoning in on it's prey.

"Say all you want, Syrus. You don't have to tell me you're jealous. You know, most people can't afford their own cruise ship either. It's nothing to be ashamed of." Chazz positively snarled.

"I'd rather have nice brothers than a cruise ship."

The insult came so fast and so unexpectedly that Chazz gasped.

"You can talk all you want, but you can't hide the fact that you're just desperately seeking approval. From your brothers. From everyone here. You can put yourself on that pedestal Chazz, but at the end of the day your money couldn't buy you a spot back into the Blues. And it sure can't buy you a nice personality and some friends."

Chazz was still caught off guard, and slightly hurt. He didn't say anything, so Syrus kept going. The look of pure turmoil on Chazz's face made him giddy.

"Of course, you do have Jaden. Trust me, his whole soul belongs to you. The way he talks about you all the time, well he's in love with you. But that doesn't stop anyone else from hating you. Us Slifers think you're pathetic. The Ra's laughed in your face the second you got beat by Bastion. Running away only made it worse. They see you as nothing more than the spoiled brat who finally got what he deserved. And the Obelisks? I'm sure they wouldn't give you the time of day if their lives depended on it. They don't like associating with nobodies. Especially one who's ego is bigger than his yacht.

"You can't duel to save your life. How you got to Obelisk in the first place is a mystery to half the students here. If you were really the top student, then you wouldn't be bested by two lower ranks. The only thing people respect is your name. If only status equalled talent with you, then the world would be fair.

"And while we're here let's talk about your brothers, shall we? It's such a shame that successes like them ended up with a failure like you. You know they offered to sponsor Zane? But he turned them down because he likes you. So now, not only are you ruining your family's lives, but the lives of others too! You know how much money Zane could've made, how successful he could've been with the Princeton's behind him? But now we'll never know. All thanks to you."

"I don't care about your family. That was Zane's decision. Not mine." Chazz's voice was shaking and he hated it.

"Oh but you should care! Because if your friends aren't successful, who's going to support you when you end up alone and utterly useless?"

Chazz let out a shaky breath. His mind whirred trying to come up with a retort, but Syrus words kept circling his thoughts. Self doubt washed over him enough to make him choke out half intelligible words. Even the glare he gave Syrus was misplaced and watery and not the least bit intimidating. And Syrus was laughing! Laughing as Chazz pushed the chair away and hurried to the door, laughing as Chazz almost missed the door handle because his hands were shaking so badly.

Syrus was still laughing when Chazz fled the room. Both of them were wiping tears from their eyes, but for two very different reasons.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. **

**Author's note: Things are heating up! And as requested, there is a little bit in Syrus' POV. Not a whole chapter, sorry, but this is what fits with the sequence of stuff :)**

The mirror in his bathroom was destroyed.

Sharp shards of glass lay silently on the floor inbetween bottles of shampoo and conditioner, one of which was leaking shiny blue liquid from a gash on it's side.

Anything and everything that had once made a home of his bathroom counter was on the floor: a bar of partially used soap, expensive hair gels, a glass cup, and a wicker basket were scattered across the black tiles. In the middle of the destruction was Chazz, with his head in his hands and his knees to his chest. Small pieces of glass glittered at the bottom of his coat, like tears that mimicked the very real ones running down his face.

He had run from Syrus and Jaden's room blindly, only stopping when his feet gave up and he collapsed at a secluded edge of the duel arena. The things Syrus had said were too much, too real and too true and too painful. They circled through his mind on a loop, playing over and over again the same insults he had said to himself or heard said to him since before he had come to this school.

"None of it's true, Chazz. You know Syrus is just angry right now because Jaden is preoccupied."

His voice broke on the last word and he hiccuped out a sob.

Chazz hadn't thought anyone was around, really. But just as he relaxed to let himself cry freely, three heads popped up above the shrubs.

"What's Slifer Scum doing over here?"

They were Obelisk boys, a grade higher than Chazz. Their expressions morphed in seconds from ones of concern to humor; like they had been concerned at first, but no longer were.

Two of the boys scoffed. Their leader did nothing but look down his nose at Chazz. With his fancy blue uniform and pretentious aura, he took one look at Chazz and practically radiated the words "you're crazy."

The boy reminded Chazz of himself. The way this boy obviously commanded power. The ever vigilant students following him, desperate to become like him and befriend him.

It made Chazz realize how pathetic he looked, how far he had fallen, and in his panic he all but bolted back to his dorm room.

It was bad enough they knew he was a loser. He wouldn't let them see how badly it had affected him.

A knock sounded on the door. Chazz jolted, knocking a hair gel bottle farther away. It forced him back to reality: he was in his bathroom, had just destroyed practically everything in his anger and sadness, and now someone was looking for him.

Chazz knew immediately that it was Jaden; most likely come to repent for the earlier carrot incident.

"No, no no no! I can't let him see me like this! He's going to think all I do is cry!"

Chazz's hands flew up to cover his face as he squeaked out the first word. He lowered his voice to a hush and crawled into a tighter ball in the corner of the wall, like he was hiding himself from Jaden's view.

Another knock.

"You must not be in there," he heard Jaden say. "I'll just have to find you then!"

Chazz held his breath until Jaden's footsteps could no longer be heard. He exhaled a shaky sob; one that pulled at his stomach and made his shoulders quiver. He clamped his fist over his mouth in an attempt to quiet himself even more in the off chance that someone could hear. He didn't want anyone spreading rumors or questioning hearing crying from his room.

The thoughts were piling up, suffocating him. The first though that came to mind was that Jaden would dump him. No one wanted to date a crybaby, even less so when they were always forced to pick up the pieces. Wasn't that what Jaden was doing? Had been doing? Chazz broke down, and Jaden comforted him and made it all better.

Once the thought was there, Chazz couldn't get it out of his mind. It was like poison, turning his mind against him and crushing all reasonable thoughts that told him of course Jaden would still love him.

But sitting in that room, looking and feeling so much like a relapse of that too-recent night at his house, Chazz couldn't help but think he was alone again.

*page break*

Jaden had thought the carrot incident would blow over rather quickly; but by seven o'clock he still hadn't seen Chazz.

It was weird. Chazz could hold a grudge, sure, but wasn't it extreme to hold out for so long over a small orange vegetable?

"Chazzaroo, I know you're in there! Come on out and I'll make it all up to you!"

Jaden tried hard to sound seductive and mysterious, he really did. But when he got no answer, he felt slightly like a fool for talking to a door like that.

This was an odd sense of déjà vu, bringing him back to the days where he had stood outside this very door trying to get Chazz to open up about his life. Wasn't he glad that was behind them.

"Chazzy, baby, it was just a carrot! No harm done right? Now come out!"

Silence.

"What's wrong Chazz? I didn't mean to insult you! I'm really sorry babe, you have to trust me."

More silence.

"You must not be in there," Jaden concluded after a minute. "I'll just have to find you then!"

He thought it was weird that Chazz wasn't in his room, because where else would he be?

Jaden had just come from the beach, so Chazz couldn't have been there. And no one was foolish enough to go into the woods by themselves at night.

The idea that Syrus might know where Chazz was popped into his head, and he quickly shifted over to his own door.

"Hey, Sy!" He flung open the door, startling his blue haired roommate into scattering Duel Monster cards across the floor.

"Jaden! Can't you just knock?" He huffed.

"No time! Have you seen Chazz lately? I don't know where he went. He's not in his room. If he's still mad about the vegetable thing at dinner I have to apologize! And it's getting late too, I'm worried."

Syrus had busied himself with picking up his fallen cards while Jaden spoke. He furrowed his eyebrows in anger for a moment, but snapped back into an innocent smile when he noticed Jaden was watching him curiously.

"Can't say I have Jay. If he's still mad about one meaningless carrot, I'd just leave him be. He'll come around, don't worry."

"Uh, no, Sy. He's my boyfriend, I can't just not apologize. Especially since it's Chazz! He'll hold on to that forever if he wants to."

Syrus curled his lip in disdain. "Yes, you're right. Chazz and his rich boy ego would never let that go. I don't know, check the main school building maybe? Or that rock he always likes to go to."

"He's not on the beach. And don't be mean. He doesn't have a "rich boy ego.""

Syrus raised an eyebrow.

"Alright," Syrus responded pointedly. "Check the hot springs. For all you know he went there to cool down. His temper, anyway."

"Oh, yeah! Sy, you're right, I hadn't even thought of that! Thanks buddy."

Syrus huffed. He sounded rather annoyed, but Jaden chalked it up to his being miffed over dropping his cards.

"No problem Jay, anytime."

He picked up a card from the floor and instead of returning to the pile, began to worry at the edges. A corner bent down at a sharp angle, and Syrus pulled his hand back in surprise, almost dropping the card again. His eyes shot up to Jaden's and he smiled nervously.

"Heh, oops."

Jaden smiled back awkwardly and pulled the door open to make a quick exit. He peeked back as it closed to see Syrus wringing his hands and looking down at the bent card.

Jaden might've thought it was weird that Chazz was missing, but he thought the way Syrus was acting was even weirder.

*page break*

In retrospect, Syrus probably shouldn't have said what he did.

The way Jaden had burst into the room confirmed Syrus' worst fear: that his roommate loved Chazz Princeton. He was so concerned over what he thought to be carrot anger that he was willing to scour the island just to apologize.

And well, loving roommate aside, Syrus knew enough of Chazz's home life to understand that he had it pretty bad.

He was starting to feel guilty. Really guilty. As in 'bending some of his cards' guilty, because that's what he was doing right now. The paper bent under his fingers as he began to realize just what he had said and just how awful it had sounded.

He felt like he could be the spokesperson for "this guilt is eating me alive." He couldn't stop wringing his hands together. His heart was beating faster and he felt his face get hot as replayed his conversation with Chazz.

It was so stupid of him. So so stupid. Sure he didn't like Chazz, but he knew better than almost anyone the kind of pressure the other Slifer was under. He heard all about it from Zane, who used to flop himself down on Syrus' bed, bury his head in his hands and tell Syrus all about the things Chazz had said to him.

The pressure he was under from his brothers.

The insults that got tossed around whenever Chazz didn't win a duel.

The immense shoes he had to fill being the youngest brother of two successful businessmen.

And most of all, the hatred he felt for himself. For the way he never seemed to impress anyone. For the way he didn't feel like anyone cared enough to be his friend.

And here was Syrus, telling this poor, broken boy that he was useless and a washed up nobody. It made him feel sick.

Syrus knew it wasn't an excuse, but he pinned his words down to jealously. Ever since Chazz had returned, Jaden had been head over heels concerned for the boy. It was constantly Chazz this or Chazz that, and Syrus would be lying if he said he hadn't grown tired of it. Sure Jaden had cared for the boy before, but never this much.

And then came the day that Jaden had amped up his concern by tenfold. He had spent the day pacing the floor of their dorm room, muttering on and on about makeup and a lock and crying. It consumed the Slifer boy, until Chazz was the only thing he could talk about or focus on. And Syrus missed his best friend. He didn't feel as strong a connection there anymore, because Jaden was too busy worrying over his precious Chazz Princeton.

Syrus was worried he was losing his best friend.

But still, it was no reason, a petty excuse, for what he had said. Chazz's self esteem was low enough as it was that Syrus didn't feel the need to lower it.

Words from Zane came back to him then, as he sat worrying over what he had done. It was just after a duel, one in which six-year-old Syrus had cheated and then proceeded to deny it. Zane, though young himself, had set his gaze on Syrus and told his younger brother that the easiest way out of a situation was to be the bigger person and come clean. "Solve the situation before it becomes a problem" his older brother had said.

"And that's exactly what I'll do." Syrus stood, knocking his cards to the floor again. He didn't stop to pick them up. The door slammed shut before they had barely touched the floor.

Syrus didn't have time to stop. He had a plan.

*page break*

The first place Jaden looked was the hot springs, like Syrus had suggested. It was significantly devoid of any Chazz Princeton's, and instead full of one very disgruntled Slifer boy who had been in the middle of seducing an Obelisk girl.

The next place he looked was the main school building, which was once again empty of his boyfriend, and occupied by a rather annoyed janitor who had been cleaning up when Jaden burst in.

He was walking in the direction of the woods now, a place he really didn't want to go, but would check just in case Chazz was there. He didn't mind playing the knight in shining armor if Chazz needed saving.

And sure, the trees lanky shadows and the whispering duel spirits were creepy, but he could imagine Chazz clinging to him as they took a moonlit walk. That was something he most definitely wouldn't mind.

A twig snapped behind him, and Jaden whirled his body around. He could see a white coat coming towards him, heading towards the main campus and the Obelisk Blue dorms. Jaden tensed, ready to run, when he heard the a ukulele chord and a very distinct voice.

"You don't even have to worry ladies. Atticus' got you."

A chorus of high pitched squeals and a deeper pitched laugh followed.

Jaden let out a breath.

"Hey, is that Jaden Yuki I see?"

Atticus raised his hand in an over zealous greeting. "What brings you over here at this time Jay? Ooh did you come to talk about your new relationship?"

Before Jaden could say anything, Atticus turned to his posse of girls and proclaimed: "you know our lovely Slifer here is no longer on the market! He's dating Chazz Princeton now!"

The girls "ooh"d and "aww"d appropriately before Atticus herded then away with his hands. "It's been lovely walking with you my darlings, but work calls now. I must talk to Jaden about his new relationship! I'll see you all tomorrow!"

The group of ladies whined, but Atticus didn't relent and they eventually scurried off, chittering about the kiss he had blown to them as they left.

"So! How's your new romance with Chazzy going?"

"It's good, going good, except he ran off because I threatened to feed him a carrot. And now I can't find him." He trailed off awkwardly and Atticus slung an arm over his shoulder.

"Ahh yes, all lovers fight Jaden, and good thing you're going after him. It shows you really do value him, and if anyone will appreciate that it's definitely Chazz.

"Treasure him, because Chazz is a heartbreaker if I ever saw one. I've known that boy since we were both in diapers, and he's still as firey and hard to please as ever. But in this case, just by going to look for him shows him that he found someone who really likes him. And you know, bonus, when you find him, you can make it up to him in other ways than just verbally." Atticus wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"You ever need any more advice you just come to the Love Master, okay? That is, if Chazz can't show you what I've taught him already." Atticus winked and strummed his ukulele.

Jaden's face turned a shade of red that complimented his jacket very well. "And what exactly have you taught him?"

"Oh you know! Useful things! For when you're all alone and it starts to get a little steamy! Things like-"

"Jaden!"

Both boys heads whipped around at the voice. Zane was striding towards them, his arms crossed and his face drawn together in severe anger.

"Uh oh, what've you done to make him so angry?" Atticus peeked around Jaden's shoulder and waved to his classmate. Zane didn't wave back.

"Oh Atticus," he said, "I'm glad you're here. You might want to hear about this."

He turned to Jaden. "You, Slifer, we need to talk."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. **

**Authors note: Things are heating up part two! (And not in the sexual way.)**

Syrus knew that what he was about to do wasn't honest. In the slightest. But in the time it took him to reach Zane's dorm, a better plan hadn't formed, so he straightened his shoulders and hoped his brother wouldn't see through his lies.

He burst through the door in a display of what was probably overly sugary concern.

"Zane! You're not going to believe what Jaden's done to Chazz!"

The Obelisk boy, who had been diligently bent over homework, whipped around so fast that papers fluttered and skated to the edge of the balcony. Syrus felt a flash of jealousy cut across his chest. He wondered if Zane would react that fast if someone told him something had happened to Syrus. The bitter side of him said that Zane most likely wouldn't care as much, and it made him wonder why he was here, helping out the boy that rarely did more than insult him.

Oh that's right: because he had most likely ground all of Chazz's self confidence to dust, and fixing the situation was the noble thing to do. And Syrus liked to believe he was a good person.

Of course, the "noble thing to do" probably didn't include lying...

"What happened?" Zane's voice was deadly serious, with a hint of nervous energy sprinkled in. "Did he hurt Chazz?"

"Not physically, no. But mentally... Zane that boy is probably wrecked."

Well, that part was true.

"Syrus, you have to tell me exactly what happened. I'll destroy that no-good Slifer."

Zane looked so angry. So worked up and upset that Syrus knew immediately the situation was going to be worse than he thought. There had to be something that happened, something Syrus didn't know of, that was working always-calm-and-collected Zane into this frenzied mess.

Sure Zane had told him what had happened to Chazz, but did he tell him all of it?

"I-I can't give you all the details, but from what I saw it was bad. They were talking, they must've had a fight before because Chazz looked angry, but he and Jaden were arguing and Jaden just... started saying things! Like, he said Chazz was no good at dueling, that the only reason he got to Obelisk in the first place was because of his money and that if he was really any good at dueling he would've made it back by now. And that it must be hard for Slade and Jagger to have such a failure for a little brother. And," Syrus's voice dropped, "that he was worthless, and his friends would never care about him."

It was so quiet for a moment that Syrus thought Zane wasn't really there. Maybe he had been imagining all of this. Maybe he had fallen asleep in his dorm and all the guilt was concocting a very strange, vengeful dream. But..

"You're sure you heard this correctly, Syrus?"

Zane's voice was calm, like he was simply asking how someone's day was.

"Yeah, Zane, I was there!" It hurt that his brother doubted him, even if the whole story was a lie.

"I just... Jaden promised. He said he would never hurt Chazz and now this." Zane trailed off, mumbling under his breath as he scurried around the room in long strides, closing his balcony doors and then leaning over to place the fallen papers back on his desk.

Syrus stood unmoving in the middle of it all.

"I don't mean to just leave you like this Syrus, but I have to go find Jaden. Do you know where Chazz is?"

"No. Jaden just came looking for him. He hasn't seen him either."

Zane cursed. "I really have to go then. If not for Jaden, then to find Chazz. You can stay here until I get back, it's getting late."

He grabbed his white jacket and slipped out the door before Syrus could say anything.

Syrus really hoped this was going to work.

*page break*

From the second Zane opened his mouth, Jaden knew he wasn't here to help him look for Chazz. No, Zane was more on a mission of "beat Jaden into the ground for being a terrible boyfriend."

Just... not for what Jaden expected.

"What the hell did I tell you, Jaden? I said that if you did anything to hurt Chazz I'd be after you. And, I distinctly remember this, you promised not to do anything to him!"

Atticus strummed something on his ukulele that Jaden was certain was going to be his death march. Because from the looks of the older boy, Jaden wasn't going to escape his wrath alive.

Zane shot Atticus the nastiest look Jaden had ever seen. "Put that stupid ukulele away, Atticus, or I'll snap it in half."

Atticus' brown eyes widened dramatically and he cradled the instrument close to his body protectively.

"Hey now, Zane, what's the matter?"

Jaden had been wondering the same thing, but he wasn't brave enough to ask.

"Why don't you ask Jaden? I'm sure he'd be happy to explain himself."

Jaden felt like he was in the middle of a spotlight now. Two pairs of eyes were looking at him: one in contempt and the other in curiosity.

"Jaden? What did you do?"

"I-I don't know! I told Zane before and he didn't seem upset then! I just told you too, all that happened between me and Chazz was the carrot incident and then he ran off and I haven't seen him since!"

He couldn't help the way his eyes darted from Atticus, who held his ukulele like a baby and scrunched his eyebrows in concern, to Zane, who had his hands on his hips and eyes that looked positively on fire. He had the same sassy position as the first time he had yelled at Jaden to befriend Chazz.

This time though, Jaden didn't think there was anything slightly funny about his pose, and wouldn't dare laugh.

"Don't lie, Jaden." Zane spat, "you did a whole lot more than that."

"What? No-I swear-"

"Why don't you just confess? You remember what I said, don't you? The sooner you tell me the story the less of a punishment you get."

Jaden balked.

"Why are you getting so angry? There is no other part to the story!I just tried to feed him that carrot! It wasn't harmless, and I told you, Zane, that I was going to apologize! But I couldn't find him, and now I'm trying to see where he is but I can't because you're trying to get me to confess to something I don't think I ever did! What are you even talking about?"

"Why am I getting mad? And what did you do? Seriously Jaden? I know what you said to Chazz, you made him run off! You, the person he trusts most. His closest friend. His boyfriend!"

Jaden hesitated. Something about what Zane was saying seemed completely off. He hadn't said anything to Chazz...

"Wait, we- we are talking about the same thing, aren't we?

"What?"

"'Cause I don't think we're talking about the same thing."

"You heard me, Slacker. A little birdy just told me that you and Chazz got in an argument and you started to insult him. It has nothing to do with that stupid carrot! Apparently you thought it was okay to go off on Chazz just because you two were a little angry at each other." Zane stepped forward and grabbed Jaden's collar in one hand. He yanked Jaden's head up and forced him on his tiptoes so that they were eye-to-eye. "You don't know Chazz as well as you think you do. You think it's all sunshine and roses now that you have each other, but it takes more than a boyfriend to erase what's been done to that boy. What happened, what you did, is how his brothers treat him. The brothers that beat him. So if Chazz does anything, one single thing that says he's hurting more than he already is, you'll be off this island so fast you won't even know it. Don't think I don't have the power to make that happen."

He released Jaden, who crumpled to the ground and pulled his jacket collar away from his body. Atticus lilted forward nervously. The way Jaden looked at the ground, the emotions in his eyes, were all wrong for someone who had supposedly just run off their boyfriend.

"Zane?" Atticus said, hesitantly. "Who exactly did you hear this story from?"

*page break*

The door to their dorm definitely wasn't supposed to swing back hard enough to dent the wall.

But it did, and following it was an equally forceful Jaden, whom Syrus thought would have no problem denting his _face_.

"Syrus."

"Jay?" It was a squeak, and no, Syrus was not proud of it.

He didn't have time to dodge the first punch, because it came so fast that Syrus didn't see it. Jaden's fist connected with his cheek hard and threw him onto the floor.

The ceiling hadn't even stopped spinning before his eyes when Jaden lunged down and pinned Syrus' arms to the floor. He straddled his roommate and threw another punch that made Syrus' head whip to the side.

Jaden's fist connected with his stomach, and although it hurt, without his head being tossed around, Syrus could see tears trickling down Jaden's cheeks. The boy on top of him sniffed and brought a hand- a hand dotted with Syrus' blood- to wipe his eyes.

Jaden had let go of Syrus' arms and slid off to the side. Both hands covered his face and he shook as he cried into his palms.

Syrus groaned and rolled onto his side, cradling his cheek with one hand as pain flared down his neck at the movement. He managed to sit himself up and reach a shaking hand toward Jaden, who flinched away and shuffled on his knees closer to the door.

"Jay-"

"No."

Syrus' hand dropped back down. Jaden stood, towering above his blue haired roommate. His eyes were red from crying and he looked about as miserable as Syrus felt.

They looked at each other, neither breaking eye contact, both looking rather pathetic to the other, until Jaden lowered his head and walked to the door. He paused in the doorway, his back to the boy on the floor.

"I'm never talking to you again, Syrus."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX **

**Author's note: This took so long because I'm lazy and couldn't get the motivation to write and yeah. But on a good note I finally got a real laptop so I can write on that instead of my phone! **

Syrus hasn't talked to J in days, people start ignoring him and he wonders if that's how Chazz feels

Judging by the amount of blood on his hands, Syrus was going to have some pretty bad bruises.

It was disgusting, really, to look at the red liquid dripping down his hands in twisting, outside-the-skin veins. Jaden's knuckles were almost entirely red, and in some spots the blood had darkened to a rusty color where it was beginning to dry.

"Ugh," he moaned, "this-this needs to go and then, and then I'll go find Chazz."

Jaden hadn't really stopped crying. The tears welling up in his eyes constricted his throat and made it hard to talk. He brought a hand up to wipe them away, the hand covered in blood. The bright red streak now covering his eye probably made him look like some kind of demon.

"Chazz is never gonna take me back. He's gonna hate me for the rest of his life because of a lie Syrus told."

It had been an awfully long time since he had worried about what to say to Chazz. Things had been going so well, and now Jaden felt like one wrong move would irreparably shatter his relationship.

All because of a lie.

"And I can't even go back to my room to clean up because Syrus is there and I can't go back and face him."

Another swipe at his eyes- this time from the non-bloody hand.

"And I can't go to Chazz's room because he's mad at me and-and."

He wouldn't break down here.

"So much has gone wrong with Chazz's life and now this."

A sniffle.

"And now he's off somewhere all alone while I'm here crying and not making anything better!"

Jaden was wailing and complaining like a little child, and he knew it. He wanted someone to magically burst from the sky and repair his and Chazz's relationship, and the fact that that hadn't and never would happen angered him.

"Chazz wouldn't sit around crying like a baby and waiting for someone else to do the work," Jaden pouted, "he'd go out and fix it himself."

And maybe that wasn't true, because even he had to admit that Chazz seemed to create more problems than he solved.

"Oh stop lying to yourself, Jaden, you know the only reason you're saying that is because you're worried about him." He muttered.

Which was true, really. He couldn't have said it better himself, and said it himself he had.

Chazz was so- so messed up, if he had to pick a word. His self esteem was practically null, and it didn't take a genius to conclude that all the money and luxuries in the world couldn't give Chazz the emotional confidence he needed. The lies, the things Syrus had spat in Chazz's face were like acid to his self esteem- they ate right through the walls and keep going until they tore Chazz's delicate self worth to shreds.

Syrus was jealous. Syrus was angry that he had been "replaced." Syrus was mad because someone had come along that took up Jaden's time and attention, not only because Chazz deserved to have someone as his friend, but because Jaden really and truly loved him.

But most of all, Syrus was jealous because Zane was acting like a better brother to Chazz than he was to his real little brother. And Jaden couldn't see how that would be hurtful, really he could, but he didn't see how destroying Chazz would make it hurt any less.

The things Syrus had said had damaged his and Jaden's friendship, maybe not permanently, but for a while. And somehow Jaden couldn't help but think that Syrus had never considered that outcome.

"Someone's going to see me and seriously wonder what's going on. It's not status quo to wander around campus looking like this." After a moment he added. "And talking to myself doesn't help."

Jaden straightened his jacket self consciously and looked around in what he hoped was a causal, non-conspicuous way to see if anyone had been watching him. He sighed in relief when he saw no one.

He looked back down at his hand again and shook it experimentally. A few drops spattered onto the ground, but the majority of it was now dried in gruesome looking patterns. The fact that someone elses blood was covering his bare hand suddenly hit him and he gagged a little.

"Jaden, man, this is really disgusting."

Unsanitary and disgusting. "I need to get this off of me, like, right now."

The options were small, however. He couldn't go to any of his friends- Bastion would want all the details and be majorly suspicious, and there was no way Jaden was about to stand out in the Ra dorms looking like this. Alexis was a girl, and unfortunately Jaden was not, which left her out of the picture. And he most definitely could not go to Zane, because even though he had finally stood up for Chazz, Jaden didn't think the older boy would be very happy to learn that in doing so, he had punched Syrus. That also meant Atticus was out, because either he would be with Zane, or his big mouth would accidentally let loose the details of what had happened to Syrus's older brother.

And no Chazz, because making up with your boyfriend does not entail coming to his door looking you had just been jumped in an alley.

Jaden began to walk, one hand in his pocket and the other held awkwardly away from his side. "And I can't go to the ocean because _someone_ will be out there and they'll see me."

He could risk taking a dip in one of the Obelisk pools, but that was just asking for trouble. And there was no way he was going to ask another student because that was just an open invitation for rumors.

"There's not some undiscovered pool somewhere up in the forest is there? That would be too easy."

Jaden stopped, because it had suddenly occurred to him that he didn't necessarily need a bathroom in someone's dorm to clean himself up. "You idiot, you don't need an undiscovered pool! There's one right here! Come on, how did I not think of that before?" He threw his hands in the air in joy and took off running down the path for the hot spring.

*Page break*

An hour passed before Chazz deemed himself worthy of leaving his room. He exited his dorm slowly, peeking around the half open door to see if anyone was around, before slipping quietly up the path to the hot springs with a towel in his hands. He figured that he had had enough trouble for the day, and that taking a nice, relaxing soak in the water might help to clear his head a little. Of course, he would have used his own tub if his bathroom didn't currently look like a tornado had just blown through.

He really dreaded having to clean that up later. He'd need a new mirror, and ugh, he had just gotten the previous one imported from Europe. It would take a few weeks to get a new one.

"Relax, Chazz. Get that off your mind, it's not like the price is an issue, and I'm sure I can convince Atticus to come shopping on the mainland to get a replacement until the real one arrives."

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The hot steam rising from the water was soothing, and reminded him in some ways of the saunas he had enjoyed at home. The feeling was comforting, and one he hadn't experienced in a long time.

At this point, Chazz was so accustomed to entering the springs that he didn't even need to open his eyes as he discarded the towel to one side and slid down into the water. It wasn't something he was particularly proud of, being used to the living conditions of the Slifer dorms, but nonetheless it felt good to slip into the water and let his mind drift off.

"Just relax Chazz. Everything will get better in time." He murmured. For right now he didn't believe that, but the more time passed and the more he reassured himself, things were bound to work themselves out.

As soon as the words left his mouth, though, Chazz heard the unmistakable sound of someone moving through the water. The ripples caused by the movement splashed up against him gently, and he sat up a little straighter.

"Chazz?"

Said boy snapped his eyes open and let out a very embarrassing scream at what he saw.

A brunette boy was standing about ten feet away from him, poking his head out from behind a plant and holding a pair of pants in front of his waist. A red streak covered one eye, and an equally red hand was dipped halfway into the water in front of him. The water around him was stained a pink color, which made it rather obvious that whatever was on his hand, he was trying to get it off.

"Chazz don't scream! It's me!"

"Jaden?" Chazz's hand was covering his heart, and the other was halfway to gripping the edge of the pool, ready to vault his body back to land and run back to his dorm.

"I'm so sorry for scaring you! I didn't know where you were until you talked. Are you okay? Where have you been?" Jaden sounded panicked and apologetic and worried all at once.

Chazz, wide eyed, didn't say anything for a moment, and Jaden was suddenly worried something had happened to him. That would be just his luck too- all ready to make repairs to his boyfriends self esteem, only to accidentally scare him into a heart attack as he was cleaning himself up.

"Uhh, Chazzaroo, are you-"

"Jaden Yuki! Where do you get off startling me like that?"

Ahh, yes, Chazz was going to be fine. From that scare at least.

His black haired boyfriend was giving him a glare that should have been positively terrifying, but underneath it he looked upset. The usual gleam wasn't in his eyes, and Jaden found that discomforting.

"What are you doing here? And what's that red?" Chazz asked. He sounded suspicious and he still hadn't moved his hand, like he was ready to escape the spring at any second if need be.

"Oh, this? Heh, yeah, well, I was planning on cleaning up and then going to see you. I, um, I couldn't find you. I heard what Syrus said, well not heard, but heard from his brother, and long story short I wanted to make sure you were okay, because nothing that Syrus said is true, and you're an amazing person who is going to make it super far in life because you're lovely and dedicated and so much smarter and charming than anyone on this island, myself included, and you should never feel insignificant again because you're my boyfriend and I love you, and nothing Syrus says is worth a single thought and-"

Chazz held up a hand as Jaden paused to catch his breath. The brunette let his next words die off and searched Chazz's face to see a small smile flit across his face. He looked almost… touched. Like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"You never answered me, Jaden." Chazz smiled and slid a little closer to his boyfriend. He swam through the water in graceful movements that had Jaden glad his pants were covering his bottom half. Chazz stopped right in front of him and laced his arms around his shoulders.

"What's with the red, Yuki?" He looked down at Jaden's hand with those big, questioning eyes of his.

Jaden paused, which only made Chazz look up at him and raise an eyebrow in impatience.

"Blood." He finally spat out, "because I beat up Syrus, for the things he said to you."

Jaden dared a look at his boyfriend, and was met with nothing but Chazz's gaze. The idea that he had messed up somehow hit him, and it felt like someone had grabbed his heart and started to squeeze it. He was that scared that he had displeased Chazz.

"Are you serious?"

Jaden nodded carefully, wondering silently where this was going.

"You- Jaden you did that for me?" Chazz looked shy, and he ducked his face down to hide it partially in his hair. His head was tilted away from Jaden, but the other boy could still see the slightly disbelieving, shocked look in his eyes.

"Well, yeah, of course. You're my boyfriend, why wouldn't I do that?"

Chazz looked nervous, like he would really rather not answer that question. Jaden thought he might know the reason behind that.

"Chazz, look. You mean the world to me. It's cheesy and overused yeah, but you really do. Why do you think I spent so much time before trying to get you to be my friend? It's not 'cause you have money, or power, or whatever else that happens to come with your fancy last name." Chazz smiled a little at this, and Jaden used that as encouragement. "You're a really great person, and some people don't see that, because sometimes you do come on a little strong, but that's an endearing quality, really. And let's be real, you're smart, and talented, and you have the social skills of a god, and once you leave this academy the whole world is going to open up for you. You can be a professional duelist, or you can run part of Princeton Corporation with your brothers, or you can go off and start your own company. Or you can live at home and I'll take care of you." The last part earned him a laugh from his boyfriend. "The things Syrus said, he said them because he's jealous. Because even though you might not know it, people love you. When you, uh, left after the school duel, you can't even imagine the number of people who were concerned about where you were. I think I got asked about you at least once a day."

"Come on, Jaden. You don't have to lie to make me feel better."

"But Chazz, I'm not lying! That's the thing! Ask Atticus, or Bastion, or Alexis! They'll tell you the same thing, because it did happen. And back to Syrus, he's jealous because Zane adores you. Zane's told me more than once that you're one of the best duelists he's seen. And don't you trust him? Syrus is just mad because Zane has never said anything like that to him or anyone else. He wants to have what you have with Zane. He wants to be an Obelisk and a top duelist, and he doesn't like that you had all of that."

Chazz snorted. "I can believe that. His dueling is atrocious. My brothers could best him in a duel, and they don't know that first thing about it/"

"Exactly! So in his anger at you for all those things, he took it upon himself to feel like the bigger person. And he preyed on what he knew would hurt you. But listen to me Chazz, I'll say it now and every day until it gets into your head: Syrus doesn't know what he's talking about. You're not going to end up a failure, because if you were one, do you think you would have gotten this far? Syrus is jealous, Chazz, jealous because you're so much better than him. You're everything he's ever dreamed of being, wrapped up in a sweeter, funnier, and cuter package than he'll ever be."

"Well you're right about that last part. I am a whole lot cuter than that boy could ever dream of being." Chazz sniffed haughtily and then laughed. It was a nice sound to hear, full of genuine happiness and not masked discomfort. "And I believe you, Jaden. You're getting good at this, huh? Pulling me out of my thoughts and telling me not to listen to what people say. First my brothers, and now Syrus. I'm really going to have to keep you around." He laughed again, and the pulled Jaden down to kiss him full on the lips. Chazz wrapped his arms around Jaden's shoulders, letting his fingers play with the little hairs at the bottom of his boyfriends neck as Jaden pulled him in closer.

Chazz removed one hand to find the one of Jaden's that was still holding onto his pants. He pulled the fabric out of the other boys grip and flung it onto the shore. With the pants out of the way, he hooked one leg around Jaden's hips and made to do the same with the other leg, before Jaden stopped him.

"Here's a crazy idea, Chazzaroo. What if we did this somewhere where no one can walk up on us, hmm? There's no fun in making the first time public."

Chazz grinned like he had just heard the best news of his life. He narrowed his eyes in playful suspicion.

"Jaden Yuki, are you telling me you know what comes after kissing? I'm surprised! Didn't think your innocent mind could go there!"

Jaden huffed in anger, playing along with Chazz's little game.

"Chazz Princeton, despite your name you're not the prince you think you are, so don't go around assuming you know what I know. I'll show you how wrong you are about what you just said."

"I'd be shocked to actually witness that. Those are pretty big words for you, Slacker." Chazz's eyes were gleaming with amusement and happiness and something else that Jaden assumed was lust.

"Well Chazz, I am insulted." Jaden made to let go of Chazz's arms, and just as the other boys grey eyes widened in surprise, Jaden swept him up into his arms. He held Chazz close to his chest and laughed at the disgruntled look he got in return. As Chazz opened his mouth, Jaden quickly placed his own on top and kissed Chazz into silence. It wasn't until they were halfway down the path, and running out of air that Jaden let him talk.

"Slacker, we're not getting married! Why are you carrying me like this?" Jaden just laughed.

Those happened to be the last real words, strung together in a real sentence, at least, that Chazz said for the better part of three hours.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

**Author's note: Sorry this one took forever and a day to post. I thought I had a good idea for this chapter and it was about halfway done when I got MAJOR writers block and scrapped it. But here it is, in a much better condition than it was before! This chapter is a whole lot of sweet rivalshipping love, because we haven't gotten a whole lot of that yet :)**

"Come _on, _Slacker! We have reservations at seven and you're not even out of bed yet!"

Chazz emerged from his closet, wearing only a suit jacket and a very peeved expression, and flung a pair of suit pants at Jaden. The brunette was lying happily on Chazz's bed,- _their _bed, actually, considering he had now moved into his boyfriend's dorm room- busy organizing his deck. The cards were arranged in neat, pristine little piles by type, and were promptly scattered as the offending pants rained down on top of them. One leg of the black fabric caught Jaden in the face, and he sheepishly removed them to look back at Chazz.

"I swear Jaden, do you know how hard it was for me to get permission to go to the mainland? I had to ask Atticus for help, for god's sake, and even then I barely got Sheperd to agree."

Chazz stuck his head back in the closet and popped back out a second later holding up a jacket to match the pants. "This is the first real date we've ever gone on and now we're going to be late! And you wrinkled your shirt! You know how long it took me to iron that? I don't even know how to iron but I called up Alexis and asked her to teach me just for you! Because I wanted this to be special!"

His voice cracked a little on the last word, and Jaden's heart lept into his throat. Chazz wasn't facing him, because he was finishing straightening his tie in the mirror, and so it was hard to tell if he was just annoyed or on the verge of crying.

Jaden, for one, was not going to be taking any chances. He didn't want to be the cause of Chazz's anger, and he definitely did not want to be the cause of Chazz's tears, and so he scrambled out of the bed. The only thing he was wearing were his boxers, that made it especially easy for him to slip on the pair of black pants Chazz had picked out for him. He hopped over to his boyfriend on one leg, nearly tripping as he tried to zip them up and narrowly missed crashing into Chazz's desk.

Chazz sniffed. "Don't you dare ruin those pants Jaden. It took me forever to get them made."

Ahh, so not upset. Well, upset but not sad. Angry maybe. Annoyed at most.

Jaden wrapped his arms apologetically around Chazz, and pulled him flush against his body.

"Sorry, babe, but you know, if it's any consolation, you look hot as anything in that suit and I wouldn't be opposed to you wearing it more often."

The tight gray fabric clung to his boyfriend's body in all the right places, so much more form fitting than the flowing black coat and turtleneck the boy usually wore. The color went perfectly with his hair, which was teased and gelled into perfection.

"I mean, you look gorgeous in anything, but this. Is this how you dress when you're home and not at the academy because if so, I can't wait to come visit you. And maybe that time we won't have to go to dinner." Jaden raised his eyebrows in an expression that clearly meant "if you know what I mean" and Chazz rolled his eyes back at him through the mirror he was standing in front of.

"No Slacker, I don't wear things like this all the time, I wear normal clothes like a normal human. The ones in the suits are Slade and Jagger, and if you want to see them then be my guest. They won't ever look as good as me though." Chazz raised his head haughtily and smirked to himself in the mirror. He smoothed his jacket down, making sure to run his hands over Jaden's where they were holding his waist, and then turned to slap his boyfriend playfully on the chest.

In all seriousness he said: "We can have plenty of time to do… the things you want to later, but right now you need to get done so we can go to dinner. The boat is probably already here, so you'd better hurry up." He pecked Jaden on the cheek, and then slipped out of the other boys grip as Jaden turned his head to kiss Chazz on the lips.

"I'm serious, Slifer Slacker! All I have left to do is put some pants on and find my phone and then I'm ready to go, and you better be too, if you know what's good for you."

They both laughed as Jaden stuck out his tongue, and then ducked quickly into the bathroom as Chazz threw a pair of boxers at him in jest.

"Well Chazzy, I know you love me, but there's no need to throw your underwear at me." Jaden said, and then slammed the door shut as Chazz scoffed.

"Yeah right, Slacker, keep dreaming."

* * *

><p>"Did you hear who's coming to the academy? Slade and Jagger!"<p>

"No!"

"Yes! And they haven't even told Chazz yet!"

A surprised gasp and murmuring that Jaden couldn't hear, and then; "My dad told me! He's a high up in Princeton Corp., and one day he was in a meeting with Jagger. I guess they talked about how they both have relatives in the academy, and my dad said that he came to visit me just a few weeks ago. Jagger must've thought that was a good idea, because he said something about having to talk to Shepard about them coming to watch Chazz duel. And you know how much authority the Princeton's have. If they want to watch their little brother duel, you can be sure they're going to see it."

Chazz was blissfully unaware of the conversation going on around them. He was holding Jaden's hand, scrolling through his messages intently, doing a last minute check to make sure everything was okay with the reservations he had made.

'He looks so cute,' Jaden thought, 'and what these Obelisks are saying over here had better not be true.'

It was a terrifying thing, honestly, to think that Chazz's brothers might come back to see their little brother duel. They knew, Jaden knew, that Chazz wasn't going to be able to meet their standards. He had been beat once, and that's all it took for Slade and Jagger to forever classify Chazz as a failure and a nuisance.

"Aren't you excited, Jaden?" Chazz's voice cut through the thoughts in Jaden's head. His voice was quiet and hesitant, and when Jaden looked down at him, Chazz looked so small. He was clutching his phone in his hands and his eyebrows were drawn together like he was afraid Jaden would say 'no' and then run away.

"Chazzy, baby, of course I am!" He pulled Chazz flush against him in a hug that had Chazz's face resting right against his shoulder. "Why wouldn't I be? I get to spend all night with you, and then when we come back, I'll spend even _more _time loving you."

Chazz giggled shyly and swatted Jaden on the chest. Neither of them spoke for a minute, happy to walk to the docks in a comfortable silence.

"You know," Chazz started, voice only slightly louder than before, "when I had that suit made for you, I gave the measurements to the family seamstress, and she called me to ask why the measurements weren't my own, and I told her about, um, about how I have a boyfriend now and how we were going on the first real date since we got together." Chazz looked up, and, upon seeing Jaden smiling gently down at him, bushed before continuing. "And she said back that you better treat me right. Because she expects to be making more suits for you when you come back to the mansion after we graduate." He trailed off nervously, like he didn't know what to expect for Jaden's reaction.

In all honesty, Jaden did find the story quite touching. And even if he wouldn't say it outloud, his chest did get all fluttery when he thought of him and Chazz living together after they graduated from the academy. They'd live in one of the Princeton family mansions, of course, at first. But then they would build their own somewhere, a place that they could really make their own. Maybe something on the water, or something with a duel arena in the back, or..

'Focus,' Jaden told himself, and instead of repeating all of the nice things floating through his mind, he said: "wait, don't you think it's a little weird that she knew the measurements weren't yours?"

Chazz's nervous expression morphed immediately to one of relief. "Jaden! She's made all my clothes since I was a baby. She knows my size better than she knows her own." And then: "And seriously? I just told you that cute little story and all you have to say back is to ask why she knew my measurements?"

Jaden shrugged, and Chazz's stubborn look of disbelief melted into a dainty smile.

"Well Chazzy, if we're going that way, I'm insulted that you told the lady that this is our first real date. What about the time we ate dinner alone in the Slifer cafeteria? I'd say that was pretty romantic!"

"Slacker that was anything _but _romantic! I take it back, you won't be allowed to come to my home because surely you're tastes aren't refined enough if you think half the slop they serve in that disgusting little hell-hole is good enough to be called 'romantic' for a first date!"

They were both joking, it was evident on both of their faces, and Jaden felt a rush of happiness flow through him when he looked down at Chazz's expression. The black haired boy's cheeks were flushed from laughing, and his eyes were bright. This was how he wanted to see Chazz, laughing and having a good time and letting down his walls. Not crying, hiding his feelings and thinking he had no friends in the world.

'He's absolutely beautiful,' Jaden thought, and that's when what he should've known all along hit him.

He was falling, head over heels, mind over body, every-cliche-in-the-world, in absolute love with Chazz Princeton.

"Jaden there's no need to stare." Chazz snipped good naturedly. "I know I'm gorgeous but if you keep staring like that you're bound to trip and fall straight into the water."

They had reached the docks were the boat Chazz had employed for the night was waiting. It was obvious that it had been call to the family yacht shop, because the thing was less of a boat and more of a cruise ship.

"We're taking this thing to dinner?" Jaden asked incredulously, "this thing you called a plain old boat is practically the same size as the island!"

"Oh calm down, would you?" Chazz sniffed. "It's not even the biggest one." He nodded quietly to the man who had lowered the stairs for them to board the ship, taking each step lightly and looking behind once he got to the top to see Jaden still standing at the bottom, surveying the ship with his mouth slightly open.

"Come on Slacker, it's really not that impressive once you see the rest of them," Chazz rolled his eyes and blushed. Jaden was really looking, well, awfully cute standing there.

His hair was blowing in his face from the wind that was coming in off the ocean. The ends of his jacket, because he had only done up one of the buttons in the middle, were blowing around him as well. Jaden's expression was complete awe, like he'd never seen something as impressive as the boat Chazz thought nothing of. It made Chazz want to shower him with gifts; to show Jaden every little thing in all his mansions. Buy him anything he wanted and make sure that Jaden was always happy. Looking at Jaden made his heart hurt in a way that, for the first time in what was probably his whole life, felt really good.

'He looks amazing. I never want to be with anyone else as long as I'm alive.'

The thought kind of scared him, if he was being honest. Never before had he considered spending the rest of his life with someone, let alone his supposed rival. There had never been anyone he was close enough to, and, looking back on it, the people he least expected to ever make him feel like way was Jaden Yuki.

But things had changed considerably since they had both arrived at the academy- Chazz had been dropped down for Obelisk Blue, Jaden, of all people, had beaten him in the biggest duel of the year, and he had finally made a real friend. So it wasn't too much of a surprise when the next thought Chazz had was: 'I love this Slacker more than anyone else in the whole wide world, more than anyone else I've ever met, and he makes me feel so amazing in every little way.'

* * *

><p>The restaurant Chazz had picked wasn't as ostentatious and fancy as Jaden would have assumed. Little fairy lights decorated the inclosed patio they were seated in. Baskets of dainty vines and vibrant flowers hung from the ceiling and on either sides of the doors. The tables were made of twisting wrought iron, with little home-grown flowers situated in the middle as centerpieces, and it looked for all the world like diners were sitting in a nice garden.<p>

The people around them talked quietly into bowls of soup or plates of sandwiches. They were all dressed up in some sort of fashion, but, besides the little girl in the princess dress, Jaden and Chazz were the fanciest two there. The waitress that had seated them had complimented them on their outfits, saying something about how they looked ready to pose for a fashion shoot. Chazz had taken the compliment into his big ego, and had raised his head and thanked her politely. Jaden on the other hand had laughed and fiddled with the hem of his jacket and stated that he was only wearing this because his boyfriend had insisted.

The staff there must have known exactly which family Chazz belonged to, because Jaden was certain they were getting the best service. It was nice, he had to admit, to have his every whim answered the moment he asked for something.

They had just started on eating their salads when the conversation died down into a comfortable silence. Chazz was busy picking tomatoes off with his fork, making disgusted faces and piling them onto the plate beside him. Jaden was busy stuffing his face; in a polite and dignified manner, of course. Or, at least what he considered dignified, anyway.

The silence between them left Jaden time to rethink the conversation he had heard when they were walking to the boat.

"_Did you hear who's coming to the academy? Slade and Jagger!" _

"_And they haven't even told Chazz yet!" _

"_...Something about having to talk to Shepard about them coming to watch Chazz duel."_

Just the mere thought of Chazz's tormenting older brothers coming back to the island was enough to make Jaden's heart speed up. And not in the good, I'm-so-in-love way like when Chazz was around, but in the nervous, tense way that meant he was terrified for what would happen to Chazz.

The Obelisk student had been right: if Slade and Jagger wanted to see their little brother redeem himself in a duel, there would be no one to stop them.

'Well, maybe Seto Kaiba could. But Kaiba doesn't particularly care about the academy as long as things are going smoothly.'

Jaden could just imagine how bad this visit would go. Last time, the Princeton brothers had been under the assumption that Chazz was the greatest duelist in the whole freshman grade, destined to be the top student at the school within a few years. Now, they would come back with the knowledge that Chazz had been beaten by a Slifer Red, someone who was supposed to be one of the worst duelists in the school. And, Jaden assumed, they probably didn't even know that he had been beat by Bastion. It was a long fall from grace, and Slade and Jagger had been anything but happy about it. Them coming back could only mean bad things for Chazz, because of course they would want to see him having done all he could to return to the Obelisks, when in reality he had not only stayed in the Slifer Reds, but also started dating the very person who had beaten him in the school duel.

One look at his boyfriend, who was innocently eating his salad and pushing a strand of hair behind his ears, steeled Jaden's heart and made him promise himself to do whatever he could to keep Slade and Jaggers hands off their little brother.

Maybe he had been staring for too long, because Chazz perked right up. "What are you thinking about, Jaden? I know that look when I see it. Your face is too strained to just be looking at my beauty."

Chazz made a devilish little smirk, but Jaden didn't return it. The brunette boy was still inside his head, this time wondering if maybe he should tell Chazz the things he had heard.

'I can just not tell Chazz,' he thought, 'and then if and when Slade and Jagger arrive I can pretend that I never heard anything about it. It would certainly save Chazz a lot of stress that way. But that's lying to him, and I can't do that after all he's been through. I clearly know what I heard and if they do show up and I've already told him, then maybe he'll be able to deal with them better. They surprised him last time they came to the academy and we all know how well that went.'

"Jaden?" Chazz narrowed his eyes slightly in concern. "Is something-"

"What are Slade and Jagger doing?" Jaden said. "Have you talked to them at all lately? Because-because I heard today when we were walking to the dock, some Obelisk was saying, that his dad had told Jagger that he had gone to the academy to check on his son's progress. And Jagger said he was going to do the same thing, and that you knew nothing about it."

Chazz looked shocked. He blinked for a second and then stabbed his fork rather violently into his salad, spearing a carrot. In one swift move he dislodged the vegetable onto a plate and then took a deep breath and looked at Jaden.

"Don't believe all the rumors you hear, Slacker. Slade and Jagger have better things to do than worry about their little brother's progress at some dueling school. They already think I'm a destined failure, so they won't waste their time coming here to visit."

Chazz looked calm, like he had convinced himself that what he was saying was true. Jaden, on the other hand, knew he didn't look so collected.

Chazz reached across the table to take Jaden's hand and said softly, "Don't worry, Jaden, they're not coming here."

Jaden didn't say anything after that, and as their waitress rounded the corner, Chazz dropped Jaden's hand to make room for his dinner plate. He smiled and joked with the woman as she placed their meals on the table, all knowledge of the conversation they had just had seemingly gone from his mind.

The dinner returned to normal after that, with jokes and chaste kisses and hand holding. But every so often, Jaden saw Chazz's eyes flicker to his phone, like he was expecting something, and he couldn't help think that his little confession had ruined the night.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-OH! GX

Author's note: Disclaimer: This is up so fast because by some miracle my mind decided it knew what to write for this chapter. And to TheSlackerestSlifer, there's something up with Syrus. You know what it is.

It had been two weeks since their fight, and yet Syrus had only seen Jaden three times; two times in silent passing, and once in a not so silent encounter that ended with Chazz dragging his boyfriend away from the cafeteria.

Syrus supposed a part of him was glad that Jaden was back with his effeminate, moody little boyfriend- and, no Syrus, don't think that way, it's what got you into this mess in the first place- but a larger part of him was upset that his best friend had effectively evacuated his life.

The day after their fight to end all fights- and friendships- Syrus had come back to his dorm to see any and every trace of Jaden gone. The brunette boy's bed was stripped of its sheets. None of Jaden's possessions were on the desk anymore, and a quick look in his dresser revealed that all his clothes were gone as well.

It wasn't hard to tell that he had moved next door to live with Chazz; Syrus had concluded that mostly from the noises he heard coming from there at night.

And as if the sleepless nights weren't enough, the ultimate icing on the cake was that Jaden seemed to have taken all of their friends with him. Which left Syrus utterly and completely alone.

It didn't take him long to figure out what had happened. He had missed classes for three days- to let his bruises and ego heal- and when he returned it was to cold shoulders from everyone, from Bastion to Alexis. Even his brother had refused to talk to him. The first time he saw Zane in the hallway- surrounded by his friends and admirers like always- the older boy had given Syrus nothing but a cold glare before continuing on his way.

The ignoring hurt, mostly because these people were his friends and his brother, but ultimately because Chazz seemed to have placed higher on the friendship pole than he had. Syrus supposed he shouldn't be thinking like that, because jealously was what had gotten him in this position in the first place. But in reality he couldn't help it, because for so long all his friends- save Jaden- had ignored the arrogant black haired boy. For the longest time Syrus had thought that no one truly liked Chazz, because he thought everyone was below him; that even though he had tumbled off his pedestal of future duel champion, he was the best duelist in the academy. And the arrogance _had_ disgusted people and made them dislike the youngest Princeton sibling more than anyone else in the school. But it seemed that since he had returned to the academy a little roughed up- and ever since he had become Jaden's little angel boyfriend- people had begun to pity him. It had taken the incident with his brothers at the school duel for people to look a little deeper, and realize that Chazz was acting the way he was because he had been brought up that way. Of course, he still was egotistical and arrogant, but with Jaden by his side he was much more subdued and agreeable.

It wasn't hard to tell that Chazz had officially been accepted into Syrus's inner circle of friends, and Syrus was hesitant and unwilling to admit that Chazz had mostly likely replaced him. The surprised, shy way that Chazz reacted to his new friends acceptance made Syrus want to gag whenever he saw it. Half the time, after Chazz would finish a conversation with someone, he would look up at Jaden with big surprised eyes, and Jaden would wrap an arm around Chazz's shoulders and they would share a disgustingly sweet kiss.

And perhaps Syrus wouldn't have been as mad if Chazz hadn't effectively replaced him. He was jealous of Chazz, because Chazz was supposed to be the one who was ignored, not him Jealous because Chazz was supposed to be the one talked about and excluded.

Syrus didn't like the way it made him feel. And he supposed Chazz hadn't liked it any better, but that didn't mean he felt bad for the way the other boy had been treated. It didn't make him want to apologize to Chazz for the way he had acted; it just made him more angry.

* * *

><p>Syrus was bereft.<p>

It was Saturday, the day specially reserved for hanging out with Zane. Syrus's brother had left him a message that morning, saying something about an emergency coming up and having to travel to the mainland and not being able to meet with Syrus today. It was a very thinly veiled lie, and Syrus knew it from the moment he had played the message on his phone.

With nothing else to do, Syrus had dragged himself to the cafeteria to work on some homework and eat his feelings. It wasn't like he had really expected to be seeing any of his so called friends, though. They had been ignoring him for so long that he didn't expect another weekend to come along and suddenly change their perspectives on him.

The only silver lining to the day was that the cafeteria was empty except for a few sleepless looking Slifers with late-morning, early-afternoon coffee cups in their hands and heads on their desks. No one was paying attention to him, not even the lunch ladies, who had been called away by Shepard to meet to discuss something that had sounded like "party for two very special people." The women had left plenty of food behind for the few stragglers left in the room, and Syrus had unabashedly stacked his plate with a good majority of it.

"Got nothing else to do today," he mumbled to himself, "might as well make the most of it I guess."

Two plates sat in front of him- one filled with fish and fried shrimp, and the second topped with desserts. He popped a shrimp into his mouth and stared dejectedly back down at the worksheet in front of him.

"I'm pretty sure this is the kind of thing they give the first graders in that stupid, fancy prep school Chazz went to. And they're making us Slifer's do it now."

The paper was covered in problems that were supposed to help the students learn strategies. Very, very _basic _strategies, Syrus could see.

"They seriously want me to pick which one would win against the other card? I could do this with my eyes closed," he squinted a little. "At least, I hope so. If I'm getting these wrong it's going to be so embarrassing."

In his head he added: 'I'm sure Jaden would know every one of these. And if we were on good terms he could help me out. We could do it together, I mean, most likely we'd do it as we ran to class, but at least I wouldn't be sitting alone stuffing my face on a Saturday afternoon getting it done.'

Another Slifer entered the cafeteria. His hair was messed up in a way that said he had just woken up and his eyes were blurry with sleep, but Syrus still ducked his head to avoid any eye contact. He was determined not to be seen.

A part of him wondered if news of what had transpired between him and Jaden had gotten around the academy yet. He figured no, because Jaden and the rest of his friends were too polite to sink so low as to willingly spread rumors, or in this case, the truth, around to their fellow students.

'Well, everyone but Chazz that is.' He thought, knowing full well that if Chazz had the chance he would talk up anything and anyone. But then again, what had happened was a direct relation to Chazz's low self esteem and Syrus was pretty positive that Chazz wasn't about to go spreading those details around. So Syrus could rest happily with the fact that mostly likely, no one knew what had gone on.

Which made it even worse to be seen alone.

Too many questions, and sympathetically confused looks, and "Syrus, why aren't you and Jaden talking?" It would be much easier if everyone knew what had happened, because then the truth would be out and no one could make up silly rumors like: 'Syrus is jealous of Chazz's relationship with Jaden (true) so he decided to push Chazz off the dock.' Or, 'Syrus tries to get Jaden to cheat on Chazz with him and ends up getting punched in the face.' Without knowledge of the situation, people would say whatever they wanted. And that could prove to make the issue even worse.

He didn't need that.

Syrus groaned and let his head fall to the table.

* * *

><p>It wasn't rare for his older brother to retire to his office after dinner. On occasion, work kept one of them at the office longer than the other, and tonight had been one of those days.<p>

The door was open, which was a good sign. An open door meant his brother was open to conversation. A closed door meant a hard day at the office, and no conversation was welcome.

Not even emergencies, he had learned.

He didn't even bother to knock, because it was his house too, and the only thing Slade was doing in there was checking his email and listening to soft music.

"Slade, you're going to love what I was told today."

The older man looked up from his computer. "What is it?" He motioned to the bottle of wine that was sitting on a table by his desk before returning his attention to the computer long enough to shut it down. Jagger sat in the seat reserved just for him and poured himself a glass before smiling.

"I was talking to one of the financial advisors today and he was telling me that his son attends Duel Academy too. He told me that he had just gotten back from visiting the boy, an Obelisk, saw the whole duel live, used to be a friend of Chazz's I guess." He sneered at the mention of the duel. "He told me that it's policy to be able to visit the kids whenever we want to. You know, to check up on them, send them presents and see how they're doing in their studies. All we have to do is give Shepard a few days heads up and we're good to go."

Jagger smiled when he finished talking and took a long sip of wine. "You know what that means. We haven't visited Chazz since he went back there, and I think it's about time we check up on him and make sure he's on his way to the top again."

* * *

><p>It all started downhill the second Chazz was called to Shepard's office.<p>

They were in class, Chazz groaning about how he had "learned this concept before I learned how to walk," while batting away Jaden's hand, who trying to cop a feel from under their desks. The black haired boy was getting some rather nasty looks in return for the rather nasty things he was saying about the other student's intelligence levels when the phone rang. The professor stopped mid sentence and walked briskly back to the desk to answer the call.

"Who do you think that's for?" Jaden poked his boyfriend in the knee.

"Probably one of the other Slifer Slackers. Wouldn't be surprised if one of them just hasn't completed their work in ages and is being called to the chancellor's office to be expelled." Chazz replied. He still didn't think highly of the Slifers, even though he was one.

It was like Chazz to say harsh things like that, and when it came to the majority of the Slifers, Jaden wouldn't have been too shocked if what Chazz had said was true. Maybe not expulsion, that seemed rather harsh, but he wouldn't put it past any of the other boys to have not done their homework in a while.

"Mr. Princeton? The chancellor requests to see you in his office. Now."

ALl the noise in the room stopped. Or it seemed to stop anyway. Chazz's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and Jaden's heart seized up. There was only one reason he would be getting called down there…

Within a few seconds, Chazz had regained his cool facade and was getting up from his seat. He laid a hand on Jaden's shoulder- and Jaden wasn't sure if that was to reassure Chazz or himself- before brushing past the other students and exiting the room.

Whispers began immediately from the back of the room. Below him. Syrus turned his head to the door. Jaden couldn't hear the things being said, but it didn't take much intelligence to guess.

"Students, settle down!" The professor said, "quiet down, we have a lesson to continue."

Jaden didn't pay much attention for the rest of the time. Every minute that ticked by on the clock was another minuted that made his heart sink lower and lower in his chest.

Chazz didn't return by the end of the period, and so he collected their books and made his way quickly to their shared dorm. He didn't talk to anyone, not even his friends when they called to him from where they were trying to catch him on the sidewalk. He wasn't in the mood to talk, and he knew that they all wanted to know where Chazz was.

He didn't see his boyfriend for another hour. But when he finally did, Chazz burst into his dorm with glazed-over eyes and stiff movements. He didn't even look at Jaden as he mumbled the words.

"Slade and Jagger are coming."


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**Author's note: I've been super busy with life, and super lazy with writing. Yup. **

They arrived at exactly twelve thirty.

Shepard had arranged a strange little welcoming committee that consisted of himself, Professor Crowler, Jaden, Zane, and a very nervous Chazz. They stood on the dock, waiting anxiously for the older Princeton brothers to arrive.

"Everything's going to be okay, Chazz. I promise you." Jaden held Chazz's hand and Zan leaned down slightly to whisper in the boy's ear. "If they try anything, that's why we're here. We'll make sure you're safe."

Chazz nodded stiffly, not moving his eyes from the helicopter that was just visible in the distance.

"Everyone, smile when they get here." Shepard said. "Are you sure Jaden should be here? Chazz _lost _to him, they might not appreciate him greeting them. And besides, we have Zane here to represent as top student." The chancellor wrung his hands, eyes skipping from Zane to Chazz to Crowler and then back to Chazz.

"Jaden's not leaving." Chazz said definitively, and squeezed his boyfriend's hand a little harder.

"Remember, all of you smile and greet them when they land. Chazz, you go say hello to them first and then Crowler and I will go, followed by Zane. Jaden, you judge their moods and if they seem happy enough you can greet them after Zane."

Chancellor Shepard smoothed the front of his uniform, closed his eyes, and proceeded to take a yoga-like deep breath. Chazz leaned over to Jaden, smirking. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Shepard is more nervous than I am. If only he knew that they don't care anything about him."

The smile, as small as it had been, slipped off his face the instant he finished speaking, like he had been happy only for the duration of his little joke.

"Yeah, well if they try anything, like Zane said, we'll be right here to defend you. Especially me. Maybe I'll push Slade into the ocean. Can he swim? Either way it would be funny to see him flailing around in there."

"Jaden that's immature." Chazz replied and stuck his tongue out at Jaden, who in turn leaned closer and whispered. "Of all the things you do with that tongue, mocking me shouldn't be one of them."

Chazz laughed even louder at that and then attempted to cover his mouth with his hand when Chancellor Shepard shot them a dirty look. "Keep it together, boys, our guests will be arriving very soon now."

He pointed to the sky, where the sleek silver body of the helicopter was coming into clear focus. Chazz immediately shut down at that, all humor gone and replaced, once again, with anxiety. He lowered his head and clenched Jaden's hand even tighter and Jaden cursed the chancellor for ruining Chazz's good mood.

"Only minutes before they land now!" Crowler spoke up for the first time, and it was clear from the way that he jumped a little in his spot that he was the only one truly excited for this day. He always had liked Slade and Jagger after that remark they had made about Jaden.

The past two days had been a flurry of activity and stress for everyone in their group. As Jaden had learned last night, when he and Chazz had sat up until the small hours of morning, the Princeton family had donated a rather large amount of money to start up the academy. It made them- besides Seto Kaiba of course, who had made the school- the largest stakeholders, and thus very important to the people who ran it. Chazz had figured that they had announced their arrival under the pretense of coming to see how the academy had progressed.

Which would explain all the effort Shepard had been putting into their visit. Chazz had been called out of class multiple times to answer questions like, 'what's Jaggers favorite food? For the lunch,' or, 'what color pillow cases will Slade want on his bed?' The chancellor had planned everything from a five star catered dinner, to a meeting with the top students, to a boat trip around the whole island, and Chazz didn't have the heart or the focus to tell the man that his brothers were no more interested in what the school had to offer than they were in seeing Chazz lose again. Their sole purpose of dragging themselves out to the remote little place was to prove to themselves and to Chazz that their little brother hadn't reclaimed the former glory he had had.

The constant questions from Shepard, and the stress of worrying about his brothers arrival left Chazz looking rather tired. His hair was a little less shiny than normal, and his stance said that he would much rather be spending the day catching up on his sleep than doing anything else. He had barely gotten to sleep last night, anyway, because he had been up until almost two in the morning cleaning and prepping their dorm room and worrying over whether or not it would impress Slade and Jagger.

They both knew it wouldn't, because it was in the Slifer dorm, but they pushed that to the back of their minds.

"Oh! They're landing! Put on your best faces, everyone!"

The sound of the helicopter almost drowned out Shepard's voice, and for all the work he had made them do to look their best, the wind from the blades whipped their hair and clothes about all around them. Chazz practically wrenched his hand out of Jaden's.

"They don't know about it yet." He whispered, and gave Jaden such a forlorn and apologetic look that the brunette couldn't be anything but worried for his boyfriend.

The whole thing was the weirdest sense of deja vu Jaden wished he had never had, because they landed the helicopter on the same building, and Chazz was looking up at them with the same slightly scared look as last time. There was no camera crew this time though, and for that Jaden was extremely grateful. He didn't want a repeat of Chazz crying to himself in the bathroom.

When the winds died down and the pilot shut off the helicopter, the door facing them slid open and a tall, smug looking man in a dark blue suit emerged from the inside. Beside him stood Jagger, with his arms crossed and a little smile on his face.

"Hello, little brother!"

* * *

><p>It had taken Slade and Jagger exactly two painstaking minutes to get down to the dock, and when they did Chazz had to be pushed ever so discreetly towards them. Shepard had shot him a dirty look, as if he was messing up some perfectly orchestrated performance.<p>

Now they were gathered at the main building of the school, and Chazz stood pitifully in conversation with his brothers, while Jaden pretended to listen to what Shepard was saying while actually watching Chazz.

"...now, you two boys accompany Chazz and I'll go make sure that everything is going smoothly for lunch." Shepard adjusted the collar of his shirt out of nervous habit one more time, bid all three Princeton brothers goodbye, and set off to the pier to unload his stress on the chefs.

From across the way, Chazz shot Jaden a confused look, and Jaden realized that he had been staring rather obviously at the three siblings. Also that he had not heard a word Shepard had said, and that Zane was starting to walk away from him.

"Zane! Wait!" He whispered, smiling when Slade glanced up to see what the noise was. Zane turned his head back around, and sighed at the "come over here so we can talk in secret" hand motion that Jaden made.

"What do you want? They're going to think it's awfully suspicious if we stand over here and whisper." Nevertheless, he came over, arms crossed and bent down a little so Jaden could whisper: "What was Shepard saying? I wasn't paying attention."

Zane snorted. "It wasn't that hard to tell. Next time you decide to stare, do it a little less obviously. And all he said was that we're going to give Slade and Jagger a little tour of the academy, just while Shepard checks and rechecks things at the docks."

He cleared his throat and stood back to his full height, turning on his heel and leaving Jaden in favor of seamlessly entering the conversation with Chazz and his brothers.

"Slade, Jagger, it would be my pleasure to show you around our academy. We'll start at the main buildings and work our way down to the docks, where lunch will be served."

Slade and Jagger rather liked Zane, always had, and so they quickly dropped their little brother in favor of talking to the Obelisk boy. Zane led them off right away, deftly taking their attention away from Jaden, who slipped back to walk with Chazz and help wipe the terrified look off his face.

"They're going to the dorms too?" He asked hesitantly.

Jaden reached out to hold his hand, and once again Chazz pulled away.

"Sorry, I forgot, and yeah, but don't worry babe. Zane'll think of something to say to them."

Which led them to where they were now. In front of the Slifer dorms; one terrified boy and two disgusted older brothers.

"_This_ is where you live, Chazz?" Slade asked.

"Yes."

It was fair enough for them to react this way, Chazz thought. The Slifer dorms were a far cry from the Obelisk palace he had been living in the first time they had dropped him off here. And compared to the mansions they were used to, this dorm was no more than a maid's closet.

"I've done a lot of renovations to my room, though," Chazz said meekly, "it's actually two dorm rooms made into one, and with all the changes and the view of the ocean, you can't even tell that it's in the Slifer dorms."

"Mm-hmm, I'm sure." Jagger obviously wasn't convinced. And to be honest, Chazz really wasn't either. Sure, he didn't mind living in the Slifer dorms as much anymore now that he had Jaden, but he would have to be stupid to think that they even compared to the luxury of the Obelisk dorms.

"Would you maybe like to see it?" Chazz had been dreading this moment, more than Slade and Jagger's actual arrival, because this was the physical manifestation of how far he had fallen off his pedestal. There was no turndown service here, or hot tubs with ten fancy jets, or room service late at night. There was nothing fancy or high class about the Slifer dorms because there was nothing fancy or high class about the duelists that lived there.

"If you're that confident in it, of course we would, little brother." Slade made his way towards the stairs, herding Jagger and Zane into place around him. Jaden hurried over to Chazz, who had started walking in what looked like the hopes of catching up with his brothers. Jaden caught the black sleeved arm and when Chazz turned back, pulled him a little close to his body and whispered: "Don't worry about what they have to say, Chazzy, if the place makes you happy then it doesn't matter what they think of anything."

Chazz gave him a tight looking smile, squeezed his arm in a way that Jaden knew meant a quiet thanks, and continued on his way to open the door for his brothers. Jaden's words made him think, because of course he loved living with his boyfriend, but did he really _like _being in the Slifer dorms? Did he like being in the group of the least capable duelists in the school? Did he like the way people looked at him? Like he had finally gotten what his smug self deserved. He was a Princeton, someone made for things much greater than rooms without real bathrooms and no maid service.

No. He didn't particularly like the Slifer dorms, and it wasn't just his brothers opinions that made that decision.

The small party of three had stopped at the top of the stairs, patiently waiting for Chazz to direct them to his dorm. He walked, head held high and trying to conceal his nerves, to the second door, and didn't fumble with the key as much as he had expected, to open it.

"Here it is."

"Home sweet home!" Jaden called from the back of the group. The joke fell flat and no one laughed as Slade and Jagger filed into the room behind Chazz.

The black haired boy took up standing next to the door, practically pushing himself against the wall as if he was trying to blend in. He didn't want to hear what Slade and Jagger would say about the space, because all of a sudden the only thing he could think of was "I hate this place, I deserved something better than what I've managed to build here."

Slade and Jagger did little more than stand in the same spot and turn to look at everything. It was a rather small room, even with the expansions that had been made to it. The bed and dresser took up most of the space, and both Chazz and Jaden thanked whoever was listening that no one had left boxers or dirty clothes out somewhere.

"I suppose it will do for you for now, Chazz. Although we were both hoping to see you back in the Obelisk dorms." Slade and Jagger didn't look anywhere near as upset as Chazz thought they would be.

"You don't think it's pretty cramped? And, and maybe not fitting for a Princeton?" Chazz said. He mumbled the last few words, trailing off his sentence.

Slade turned to him with a twisted little smirk on his face. "Oh, Chazz, it's not suited for a Princeton. But it's perfectly suited for a failure like yourself."

The comment was so offhanded. Jaden gasped, and even Zane, who was standing outside of the doorway, turned his head in shock. Chazz did nothing but make a small noise in the back of his throat- something that sounded strangely affirmative.

"Right, well I think we're done here. Is there anything else you'd like to show us, Chazz?"

"No, Slade. Let's just go to lunch."

As they left the room, Jaden once again tried to worm his way through the people to get to Chazz. But he found his boyfriend walking directly in between his two brothers, staring straight ahead as if he was thinking hard about something. Slade and Jagger talked over his head, just softly enough that Jaden couldn't make out what they were talking about.

Chazz had forgotten to lock the door, and so Jaden did so himself. He wondered what Slade and Jagger would think of him having his own key to what they thought was solely Chazz's room. He wondered if it would bother them.

It the time it had taken him to lock the door and slip the key back in his pocket, Slade Jagger and Chazz had made themselves a god head start. Zane had hung back a little, and the way that he carefully looked at anything but them said that he was most likely trying to give the three brothers their space.

Slade and Jagger were talking to Chazz now, and the way they walked together made them look like a nice functional little family. Slade put his hand on the back of Chazz's shoulder, and Chazz turned around just enough to look at the building behind him. Jaden figured that his boyfriend was looking to see where he was, and so he waved.

Chazz didn't wave back. He bit his lip and stared right through Jaden. He looked troubled, like he was contemplating something, and as soon as jaden thought that whatever was happening was getting super weird, Chazz turned back around. He said something that made Slade laugh and pat him on the back. Jagger pointed in the direction of the Obelisk dorms- to where the castle-like towers could be seen over the trees- and then waved lazily back at the Slifer dorms. Something about it made Jaden feel self conscious, and even though he knew they weren't talking about him, he knew they were comparing the dorms to the rest of the school. And the fact that they thought so little of the Red's was something that personally hurt Jaden. He had come to love living in "the slums" as so many other students called it, and he hoped that Slade and Jagger weren't giving Chazz too much trouble for living there too.

And there was something strange about the way Chazz was acting. But Jaden couldn't really figure out just what it was.

"Hey! Jay!" A voice, one that was definitely not Zane's, and too familiar and rage inducing to be anyone else's, caught Jaden's attention.

"Jaden!"

"Syrus! What?" The way Jaden responded was little more than a growl, but he and his former best friend hadn't talked in weeks, and a five star lunch was going on soon and he was going to be late.

"Jay, I know we haven't talked in forever and I want to apologize and this might not be the best time but I just wanted to-"

"You're right," Jaden snapped, "This isn't the best time. For apologies or whatever else you're trying to say. If you want to talk, come up with a good enough reason and maybe I'll listen. Until then, I need to go catch up with Chazz."

"Jay!" Syrus flung his hand out as Jaden began to walk away. "Wait, I- hold on, I saw that Slade and Jagger got here and I just wanted to know if Chazz is okay?"

Jaden stopped where he was on the stairs. He didn't turn to look at Syrus, and Syrus didn't move from where he was standing half in and half out of his dorm room. Jaden had paused with his hand on the rail, and he didn't lower his gaze from where Chazz was slowly fading out of sight, but the way his shoulders hunched said that he was thinking about what Syrus had said.

The blue haired boy actually got nervous for a second, partially afraid of the rejection he thought was going to come in a minute, and maybe a little more afraid that Jaden would beat him up again. Neither of them said anything for a minute, long enough for the three Princeton's and Zane to disappear from sight.

"If, if you don't want to tell me that's fine, I just-" Jaden cut him off, voice cold and detached and iced over with a little bit of hatred.

"Whatever's happening to Chazz, whatever he's feeling, he's got me. And it's none of your business."


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**Author's note: You know, guys, there's so many chapters to this story that I don't even remember everything that's happened.**

If Jaden had to rate their lunch on a scale of one to ten, it definitely earned a "I could die happy." Which, in Jaden's book, was way more than a ten.

They arrived at the dock to find a table elegantly set with a dark blue tablecloth and fine white china. A waiter in a suit stood by to the side, chatting with Shepard, who had combed his hair down to not be so windblown. Three chefs stood behind a long industrial steel table, serving up plates of steamed lobster and crab legs and filet mignon and other things so expensive Jaden doubted he had ever eaten them before.

Slade, Jagger and Chazz didn't even bat an eye as they walked up to the elaborate setting. Chazz took his seat right away, with a distant, lost in thought expression, and Shepard rudely left the waiter mid sentence to rush over to his guests.

"Slade, Jagger! I trust you had a nice time touring the campus?" Shepard looked rushed and distinctively less professional when he was standing next to the two businessmen. Slade and Jagger each wore their customary suits, dressed to the nines from their hair down to their shoes. Even Jaden felt a little self conscious of the red jacket he wore. Every little imperfection stood out like a beacon compared to the immaculate clothes of the Princeton brothers; the faded stains, the little stitch from the one time he had ripped the sleeve on a tree branch, the place at the bottom where the threads were fading from overuse. Jaden could see why Chazz preferred his black coat to anything else, because the black didn't show stains and imperfects.

Honestly, Jaden couldn't care less what the two men thought of the academy. He knew whatever they said was probably going to be sugarcoated anyway- everyone knew they weren't paying attention to anything but Chazz and his dorm room. Zane, who had basically become the mediator for the Princeton brothers and Jaden's babysitter, was preoccupied talking to Slade and Jagger, so Jaden took the opportunity to sneak over to the food. He snatched a little glass of shrimp and cocktail sauce off the chef's table and plopped himself down next to Chazz.

"Long time no see, Chazzy baby. Want a little food?"

Chazz, who was still staring down at his plate even after Jaden's unceremonious seating, barely stirred at the question.

"Hey, Chazz? What's wrong?" Jaden leaned in to see Chazz's face. It was a caring gesture only slightly ruined by the piece of shrimp sticking out the side of his mouth.

A bit of cocktail sauce dripped off the tail end of the shrimp and landed right on the table cloth. Jaden made a very unattractive spluttering noise and grabbed a napkin to nonchalantly drape over the offending stain. Chazz broke his staring contest with the plate and ducked his head ever so slightly to laugh.

"The only thing that's wrong, Slacker, is your table manners." He giggled.

Jaden wrinkled his nose in mock disgust. He got up from his seat and went to stand behind Chazz.

"Oh well _excuse_ me, mister 'I grew up a rich boy.' Not all of us were given lessons on immaculate table manners, now were we? But this one I know. You're supposed to pull the chair out for your date before you sit down, and I almost forgot to do that!"

He grabbed the back of the chair and pulled swiftly backwards, making to pull the chair out from under Chazz. All pretense of them being quiet left at that, and as Chazz made a desperate grab to hold onto the table he let out an especially loud laugh. Slade craned his head to see what was going on, and when Chazz- who had turned around to make a grab for Jaden's jacket- saw, he immediately went stone faced, cleared his throat and turned back to look nervously at the table settings.

The whole thing became rather awkward rather quickly for Jaden, who accidentally made eye contact with a disapproving Zane for a little longer than necessary before ducking his head as well and returning to his chair.

"I feel like we're little kids again! Getting punished for misbehaving. I mean I know we're Slifers but that doesn't mean that we're ruining something!"

Chazz laughed again, but he had stiffened a little at the mention of them being Slifer's, and when he laughed it sounded slightly sad and forced. "Slacker, we didn't get punished. And if we want to get technical, technically you did ruin the table cloth."

His smile died out and once again Chazz sat staring off into space while Jaden tried to decode the problem.

"Chazz? You're doing it again. There's something wrong, what is it?"

The boy beside him didn't answer for a minute. Chazz turned to face him sluggishly, like he was half lost in a conversation in his own mind.

Jaden knew he looked concerned, but it must've been more noticeable than it looked, because immediately Chazz wiped his expression clean and put on one of careful consolation.

"Nothing's wrong, Jay. I'm just thinking about something my brothers said to me, is all."

He found Jaden's hand under the table and rested his own gingerly on top of it.

"I love you, Jaden."

* * *

><p>"Chancellor Shepard, we have a preposition to make."<p>

Lunch had gone just fine. The conversation had been polite and careful at best, but that had mostly died down by the time the main course was served. Jaden wouldn't be surprised if he had eaten his own body weight, because the chef just didn't stop _cooking _and plate upon plate upon plate of delicious food was served that Jaden just couldn't pass up.

After, when the table had been cleared up and everything was being packed up to move off the dock, Shepard had suggested that they spend a little while on the beach. He was still trying to sell the school- now by showcasing the views and the beautiful beach, and maybe even Atticus's surfing abilities. Talented students were worth a lot, after all.

Slade and Jagger wouldn't have it, though. They had plans of their own to attend to; ones that included their brother more than getting a nice tan.

"If there's somewhere we could talk in private? Your office maybe? That would be much appreciated."

Shepard, who saw this as the golden moment when the two brothers pulled out their checkbooks for a donation, immediately obliged.

"Of course! My office is back up at the main building, but let me call a car to come pick us up." Shepard said. "Zane? You, Jaden, and Chazz are welcome to do whatever you please while I talk with our guests." Then he hastily pulled his cellphone out of his pocket.

Chazz, who was standing beside his brothers, cast them a nervous look and then swung his gaze over to Jaden. His face twisted for a moment, and he looked guilty, but then it was gone, and Jaden blamed it all on a trick of the light; or maybe discomfort at being so close to his brothers.

While Shepard talked on the phone, Slade put his hand on the back of Chazz's shoulder and leaned down to say something quietly to him. Jagger had pulled out his own phone, typing furiously away and then scrolling through something. When Slade finished talking, he turned his attention to the phone. He pointed at something on the screen and began talking with Jagger, who in turn lowered the phone for Chazz to see. Their younger brother pulled that face again, half guilty and half uncomfortable, before leaving their small group. He cast another brief look over his shoulder as Slade called out, "we'll call you when we're done," before returning on his way.

When he reached where Jaden and Zane were standing, Jaden flung his arm around Chazz's shoulders. Chazz's face brightened immediately.

"Hey Chazzaroo, what do you say we all head to the beach? I'm sure Atticus is probably there." Jaden said. Zane nodded his head in affirmation.

"Slacker," Chazz said as he watched the car pull away with his brothers inside, "I've been waiting all day for them to leave." He reached up to take Jaden's hand, content that no one was watching them. "But if we're going to the beach, I am in no way going in these clothes. You'll push me in the water, I know it." He glared at Jaden, who feigned an innocent look. Even Zane laughed a little.

"Race to the dorm then?" Jaden didn't wait for an answer. He just took off in the direction of their room, pulling Chazz along with him.

Shepard, Slade and Jagger were still waiting for the car to arrive as they ran by. Jagger was still preoccupied with something on his phone, the screen of which Jaden couldn't see. Slade was making small talk with the chancellor, doing what he as a politician did best.

Jaden really thought nothing of it. Slade and Jagger wanted to talk about Chazz, obviously, but whatever they had to say couldn't be that bad. They would out of here soon enough and then everything would go back to normal.

* * *

><p>"Chancellor Shepard, when we enrolled Chazz in this school, it was understood that he was promising enough to be the top student."<p>

Shepard sat at his desk, looking rather intimidated as Slade paced around his office. Jagger sat in the chair across from him, dividing his time between watching his brother talk and checking something on his phone.

"Well, yes. Yes, Chazz proved to be quite the duelist in our prep academy. His test scores were exceptionally high as well, it says here, and added to the money you all so graciously donated," He paused and looked up to smile at Jagger, "Chazz was already the top freshman when he entered Duel Academy."

"And we expected nothing less." Slade waved his hand dismissively, like he didn't really need Shepard to read off of Chazz's record to understand that his little brother was outstandingly talented. "Chazz has devoted his life to dueling since we were all young. He loves to duel, we all know that. His skills never fail him, he's usually the winner. Tournaments, side duels, practice, it doesn't matter. Chazz is a Princeton. He was born to be successful.

"Until that School Duel." Slade's expression darkened. He leveled his gaze right at Shepard.

The chancellor gulped. He knew exactly what Slade was doing. He was blaming Duel Academy, and effectively Shepard himself, for Chazz's slip up.

"Well, Mr. Princeton, I can assure you that everyone loses at some point. And there are some rather formidable opponents that Chazz had dueled against. We accept only the best students, you know." Jagger looked up from his phone to fix Shepard with a piercing look, and Shepard smiled back weakly.

"An Obelisk Blue shouldn't be beaten by a Slifer Red." Jagger said.

Slade nodded. He smiled; it was sweet and calming and nothing like the manipulative look Shepard had thought it would be. "And of course Jagger is right by that. But everyone make mistakes; I think we can all agree on that. Which is what we really wanted to talk to you about."

He finally took the seat beside Jagger, and Shepard breathed a sigh of relief.

"The Slifer Red dorms are no place for Chazz." Shepard opened his mouth to reply, but Slade cut him off. "I don't care what happened for you to put him there. I would have thought with all the money we gave to this school, you would have found a way to keep him in his Obelisk standing.

"Like I said before, everyone has their off days. It's not fair to punish Chazz for one simple loss when others here have done so much worse. So I have a deal for you. You're going to reschedule a match, Chazz against Jaden, and if Chazz wins, which he will, you will promote Chazz to Obelisk Blue again. We'll pay for it. Jagger has the money all ready to go, yes?" His brother nodded. "Yes. We think a week should be enough time to prepare.

"And of course," Slade pulled a slip of paper from his pocket, "because we _know _you'll be more than happy to do anything to redeem Chazz's status, here's a little extra for the school. Or for you, we won't tell." Slade smirked. "Just a little incentive."

Slade handed the check to Shepard. No one spoke after that; Shepard was too lost in shock at the preposition right in front of him, and Slade and Jagger, like good businessmen, were letting the details sink in.

"I trust there will be no problems with this, then?" Slade asked.

Shepard slipped the check into his own jacket pocket and stood clumsily with his hand outstretched to shake Slade and Jagger's.

"Of-of course not. Everything will be taken care of."

"Perfect."

* * *

><p>Chazz came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his head. He looked pretty funny, Jaden thought, with the fluffy blue thing covering his hair and flopping into his face.<p>

Chazz had just gotten back from dinner with his brothers, and now Jaden was looking forward to spending the rest of the night with his boyfriend without the worry of where his older brothers were. Jaden himself had showered first, long before Chazz had gotten back to their room, and was sitting, perfectly dry, on the bed looking through his phone. The opportunity for a picture was perfect, and he raised the phone to capture Chazz toweling off his hair when he noticed how Chazz was looking at him.

"Jaden. Um, I need to tell you something." He seemed nervous; the way he was rubbing the towel between his fingers was the way he had gripped his jacket all those times when he was upset.

"Yeah, what is it?" Jaden straightened and dropped the phone. Whatever Chazz had on his mind was clearly rather serious; it could be anything from something his brothers had said to him, to something that Jaden had done, to really anything.

Chazz pulled the towel off his hair and moved to sit on the edge of the bed across from Jaden. "Slade and Jagger, they- they made me a deal today. They talked to Shepard about it and everything, and really, the whole thing is already in motion." He paused, looking away from Jaden nervously.

"Basically, okay. Okay, Slade and Jagger paid for a rematch of the School Duel. Of course it won't really count, but it's going to be exactly the same as the real one. You against me. And you can't really back out, Jay, because like I said they already have everything being set up." Chazz said. He wrapped his hands in the towel again and took a deep breath. "And they made Shepard promise that if I win, I can go back to being an Obelisk."

Jaden leaned back. The worry was all but gone from him; so all he had to do was duel his boyfriend, and it didn't really matter who the winner was because Chazz was happy being a Slifer.

Right?

"Oh Chazzy, don't look so sad! It'll all be fine! Listen, I know your brothers put a whole lot of pressure on you, but it doesn't matter if you don't win, because if you're happy being a Slifer, than whatever Slade and Jagger say doesn't matter."

Jaden leaned over and pulled his boyfriend into a hug. He would show Chazz that even if he didn't win, he couldn't let his brothers tell him how he should live his whole life. Chazz had changed so much since he had become a Slifer; he had made friends, and gained more confidence and even gotten himself a boyfriend. And Jaden wouldn't let Slade and Jagger take away his boyfriend's happiness just because they thought he should be in higher standings.

But Chazz didn't return the hug like he was supposed to. He sat there, with Jaden's arms around him, staring down at the bed. He looked sad and small, like he was afraid of something. It brought Jaden back to the days after he had returned to Duel Academy, and he didn't like the feeling it gave him.

"Chazz?"

There was silence. Chazz's breathing was uneven; Jaden could hear the way it caught in his throat and wobbled past his lips.

"Jaden, I don't want to be a Slifer anymore if I can be an Obelisk."

The blue jacket that still hung on the wall was behind him, framing his body.

Jaden had to admit; that hurt.

And it must've shown on his face, because Chazz looked up and immediately started crying. "I love you, Jaden. I really, really do." He sobbed, "But I _want _to be an Obelisk again. I want respect and I want to know that I'm as good at dueling as everyone used to say. And I want to know that all the work I've done has paid off. I want to prove to Slade and Jagger that I can be just as successful as them and that their little brother isn't the failure that they saw."

"Well you have more of a value to _me_ than just the number of duels you win." Jaden muttered Slade and Jagger didn't matter to him, and they shouldn't matter to Chazz either. Because Chazz didn't need two people in his life that beat him and degraded him all over a card game. He was worth more, and Jaden knew that no blue coat and fancy dorm in the world would make his brothers love him.

Chazz smiled at him; a watery, thankful smile. "Well Jaden I know that," He laughed slightly and wiped a few tears from his eyes. "But Slade and Jagger are my brothers. If I win this duel maybe they'll leave me alone."

And wasn't that sad to hear.

"If I win, I'll get Slade and Jagger to make you an Obelisk too." Chazz added weakly.

Jaden didn't have anything to say to that, because he liked being a Slifer. It didn't matter that they were the bottom of the barrel, 'no-good-slackers' of the school because he loved the people that were here with him. Chazz, of course, being at the top of that list.

"They're buying me new cards. Like the ones that they tried to give me the first time. Jagger was ordering them before. I don't know if I'll use them, it won't matter if I do." Chazz trailed off.

Jaden didn't have anything to say now, and neither did Chazz, apparently. They sat in silence- or as close to silence as they got with Chazz's sniffling and wiping of tears. One of Jaden's hands was on top of Chazz's, and he was angry that Chazz wanted to be an Obelisk again, because in his mind status wasn't important. But his boyfriend looked lost and scared and so very, very sad that he was willing to give him comfort.

Chazz was picking at the end of the towel again with one hand; his eyes were trained on the bedspread. Periodically he would sniffle and mechanically wipe the tears off his cheeks before returning his hand to its slow destruction of the material.

Jaden honestly expected the conversation to be over at this point. No one had said anything in at least five minutes, and if Chazz didn't want to talk than he was happy to move on to another topic. A little distraction would give Chazz the time to figure out his feelings, and then they could go back and talk the facts and not have such an emotionally charged conversation.

"It doesn't matter if I use the cards though." Chazz continued from where he had left off. "It doesn't matter if I use my own cards or the ones Slade and Jagger have because-because."

Chazz took a shaky breath. He was trembling, Jaden noticed with a jolt of concern.

"Jaden I can't win this duel. I know I can't. Not against you." His voice was small. "You have to let me win. Please."

Chazz looked up at him with big, watery, desperate eyes. And Jaden didn't know what to say. He felt arms around him; Chazz had launched himself practically into Jaden's lap and was clutching him tightly to his bare chest.

"Jaden, I love you." There were tears soaking into Jaden's jacket from where Chazz was crying into his shoulder, and it was so much like those times when Chazz had confessed what his brothers had did; but Jaden didn't feel bad this time, because Chazz was _asking him to cheat_ and no matter what the outcome of losing was, Jaden wasn't sure he could do that.

"I- I love you too, Chazz." Jaden replied. Except the way he said it didn't really sound like he meant it, and Chazz could hear that too.

And so- even though it was only nine o'clock- Chazz pulled away, and crawled into bed and turned out the light.

Jaden stayed where he was. Immobile on the bed while his mind ran through the conversation he had just had. When Chazz's breathing had finally evened out and Jaden had successfully exhausted himself from thinking, he crawled under the covers beside Chazz.

He looked at the boy beside him, the one whose brothers tormented him and whose classmates laughed at and whom Jaden loved with all his heart.

This was Chazz Princeton, the boy raised on "Princeton's don't lose" and "Princeton's are always successful." _Chazz Princeton, _the little brother of the legendary Slade and Jagger, who had nothing left to conquer than the world of dueling and therefore thought he had no use beyond becoming the best.

Chazz had fallen short of his brothers- and his own-expectations; Jaden knew it. And because of that, he didn't know what he was going to do about this duel.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**Author's Note: TWENTY CHAPTERS! **

Syrus conveniently, and unsurprisingly, found Jaden in the cafeteria.

The brown haired boy was sitting in the farthest corner of the cafeteria, leaning heavily on one hand while he shifted food around with his fork. He looked like he was drowning his sorrows, whatever they could be, in fried shrimp and rice. The most surprising part was that the cafeteria was lacking one Chazz Princeton, boyfriend and spoiled boy extraordinaire.

Really all Syrus could see was a white knight scenario. This was his time to shine, to apologize and get Jaden to open up to him again- and really, how hard could that be?- before going off and solving whatever problem was bothering him. Then he would be invited back into the little group and get his old life of living with Jaden and spending time with his friends. It was pretty tiring not having anyone but a select few classmates to talk to; especially when those classmates were a fellow Slifer that slept through all his classes and tried everyone for the answers to homework, a girl who more or less was trying to befriend the whole school (and failing horribly), and a Ra Yellow with a love for magic and never shutting up.

Yeah, he needed Jaden and everyone else back.

"Jay!" Said Syrus, putting on his brightest face and waving. He made his way over to the other boy who for his part didn't do more than slow down his fork in acknowledgement.

"Jaden, I want you to know that I've come to apologize, once and for all, forever and always. I mean what I say." Syrus slid into the seat beside Jaden. The brunette boy did nothing but scoff and move to nibble restlessly at at a piece of shrimp.

"I guess a lot of why I said those things was because I'm jealous. Jealous of the way that Chazz and Zane are so close. Like, I'm Zane's little brother and because I'm not an Obelisk I don't see him that much. So then one day I discover that Chazz Princeton is this up and coming thing for him and that Zane's been picked to mentor him. Because apparently Chazz doesn't have everything already." He could feel himself getting a little heated, which was exactly the opposite of what he wanted to happen. Jaden shot him a particularly scalding warning look when he mentioned Chazz having everything, so Syrus sighed and started over, more composed.

"Sorry, sorry that's not the path I wanted this to take. Okay. What I really wanted to say is that I was jealous of Chazz because he took away the only brother I had. I don't get to spend that much time with Zane, usually only on Saturdays. And then there was Chazz, who spent pretty much every waking minute with him. They got super close, they're still super close, maybe even closer than me and Zane, to some extent.

"It's just that I always saw Chazz as someone who had everything he could have ever wanted; he's rich, he went to that fancy prep school, he could have the best cards, he was an Obelisk, he was basically destined for a free ride straight to the next King of Games. So it didn't seem fair to me that he got Zane too.

"One day before the school duel, when Chazz was still an Obelisk, all the pressure was getting to him really badly. His brothers had called him, I guess, and they were stressing him out about getting the top grades and not losing any duels, and how if he messed this up he wouldn't be given a place in the Princeton Corp. anymore. He came running to Zane because he was the only friend he had and the only person he trusted. Zane and I were hanging out by the lighthouse that day, and when Chazz came to find him he was crying and Zane left to go talk to him. He came back later and explained some of what Chazz went through with his brothers and I felt bad. For a little while.

"And then after the school duel, when Chazz's brothers told him off, everyone started to pity him and feel bad for the things they had said. They started to excuse the things he said and the way he had acted as an Obelisk because they figured that the influence of two awful older brothers was the reason he was acting that way. And I got even more angry because people felt so bad that he didn't have his brothers, and here I was, not really having Zane either, and no one really cared."

"It's no where near the same, Syrus." Jaden mumbled.

"I know. I know, that's why I want to apologize. Because I was so fed up and angry that I didn't see just how different the two situations are. I feel terrible about the things that I said to Chazz. I really do. Is he okay?"

Jaden looked up for the first time, and Syrus looked really sincere. He looked like he truly, genuinely was worried about how Chazz had turned out after the things that had been said to him.

"He's, uhh, yeah he's doing fine now." He stabbed at another shrimp on the plate. "Shouldn't have lied about me saying that to Zane though. That makes it way worse. You don't mess with Chazz, okay? But you definitely don't go around telling your brother that I'm breaking my boyfriend's heart."

That was rather embarrassing. "Yeah, sorry Jay, I don't really know what I was thinking there."

"Neither do I."

Syrus felt entirely too awkward to continue the conversation. There was really nothing else that he could say about that particular fiasco, and Jaden's short responses weren't giving him hope that the other boy would open up to him.

"I'm gonna go get some food, ok?"

"Yeah sure."

Syrus wasn't really all that hungry. But in the time it would take him to get himself some lunch, maybe he would have gathered himself enough to be able to make some conversation, seeing as Jaden wasn't about to make any. Besides, the food didn't really look half bad today.

He collected his plate, made the necessary small talk with the serving ladies, and prayed that Jaden wouldn't leave the cafeteria before he could sit back down. With his plate sufficiently full Syrus turned back to the corner of the room to see that Jaden had indeed stayed where he was. It gave Syrus a little hope.

In the past few weeks, Jaden had taken any chance he had to ignore Syrus. Anytime they passed in the hallway, Jaden would pull Chazz deeper into conversation. Anytime Syrus so much as said hello, Jaden was out the door. Today was a big change from yesterday, when Jaden had practically snapped at him; which probably meant that whatever was bothering Jaden was pretty significant. Jaden might be a sweet person with a forgiving heart, but even he didn't get over a grudge like this that quickly.

Syrus slid his tray in beside Jaden's and sat back down. The boy next to him offered no conversation so Syrus tried himself.

"So, uh, how's it going?"

"Good."

"Do anything fun lately?"

"Eh, not really."

Syrus lowered his head and picked at the vegetables on his plate. Jaden really wasn't in a talking mood, and that did nothing to boost Syrus's confidence.

"Sorry if I have to leave a little early. Slade and Jagger are still here, and they organized this big duel and Shepard called me this morning to say that he wants to have a meeting with me before the thing happens."

Jaden was looking at him with barely hidden annoyance, but Syrus somehow got the feeling that it wasn't directed at him. Syrus could only think that the reason Jaden had shared this information with him was because he indeed wanted to talk.

"Wait, what? Why did Slade and Jagger organize a duel?" Syrus asked. It didn't make sense for the two Princeton brothers to sponsor a duel. They would be showcasing Chazz, obviously, but what was the purpose of that when he could do that on his own at any time.

"They want a rematch of the school duel. They want Chazz back in the Blue's really badly, so they made a deal with Shepard that if Chazz wins he'll be put back in Obelisk."

"Oh." Syrus said. "How do you feel about it? I mean, if Chazz wins then he won't live with you anymore."

It was a pretty awkward thing to bring up, considering the only reason they lived together was because of the things Syrus had done.

"I don't like it, Sy." Jaden leaned his head down on the table. He did look pretty upset. "Chazz wants to go back there, too. He thinks that if he's back on top his brothers will love him. They're not going to though, no matter what Chazz does." He sighed. "And the thing is, I don't even know if I'll have a chance at beating him. His brothers ordered him a whole new deck. If he uses it, he's going to have some of the most powerful cards around."

"Where is he today, anyway?" Considering how close the two were, it was pretty strange that Chazz hadn't showed up by now. And Syrus didn't want to take the chance and accidentally say something about him that Jaden took the wrong way. He was awfully protective of his boyfriend, Syrus and his jaw were painfully- literally- aware of that.

"He's at the beach surfing. I guess having Slade and Jagger around kicked Atticus' big brother instincts into full gear. Those two have always been close."

"Slade and Jagger are still here?" Syrus figured that those two would have been off the island yesterday. He didn't see them as the type of people who particularly wanted to be at the academy, but then again if they were scheduling a duel they would want to be there to see it.

"Yeah. They won't be leaving until the duel's over. Which is in a week. They want to make sure that everything is going okay, and that Shepard doesn't decide to back out of the agreement."

Slowly they were getting back into their routine of talking. The conversation was relaxing, and even though it was a serious topic and no one was cracking jokes, Jaden was starting to talk less stiffly and more like he had when he and Syrus were best friends.

They settled into a comfortable silence. Syrus picked at the food on his plate, selecting the things he wanted to eat, and Jaden swirled a few shrimp in their sauce.

"How does Chazz feel about the duel?" Syrus was rather hesitant to ask the question, but if he showed his concern about Jaden's boyfriend, he would probably get back in his good graces all that faster.

Jaden let the shrimp he had been playing with fall to the plate with a 'plop' and for a minute Syrus was afraid that he was about to get the Jaden verbal smackdown again.

"I really don't know, Sy." He said, looking dejectedly down at his plate. "I think he's excited to be able to prove himself to his brothers, and I think that he really does want a chance to be the best again. He told me one of the reasons he wants to be an Obelisk so badly is because he wants people to take him seriously again. I mean, his whole life has been built around what other people think of him and when they ridicule him for being a Slifer it makes him feel pretty bad.

"I think he's really nervous too, though. He told me he doesn't think he has a chance of beating me, and-" Jaden's face twisted. He looked like something had made him sick.

Jaden cast his gaze around the room. Three Slifers had entered in the time that they were talking; two of them had their decks spread out on the table, and the other was squinting critically at a sheet with what Jaden assumed to be dueling rules. They looked entirely engrossed in what they were doing, but he didn't really want them to accidentally overhear what he was about to say.

"Actually, do you think we could maybe go back to our old room?" Jaden rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and gave Syrus a winning smile. It was weird to say that again, but he would have to accept it. He didn't want to have the conversation in his and Chazz's room, one because he didn't think Chazz would appreciate Syrus in their room, and two because he didn't want Chazz walking in on them talking about the duel. And it was probably good to rebuild his friendship with Syrus.

Syrus looked suspicious, but he agreed to it anyway. "Uhh, yeah, sure Jay. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Jaden shut the door behind himself and took in how empty the room looked. It was small, way smaller than Chazz's room, and with only Syrus's stuff in it, it looked sad.<p>

The bed he used to sleep in was pitifully bare. Nothing was on it anymore, just the bare mattress, because he had taken the sheet with him. Why, he didn't really know. They didn't fit Chazz's bed- it was so much bigger- and the sheets belonged to the academy anyway. He couldn't return them though, because that would be way too close to a breakup. And why was he thinking about this in the first place, he had more important things to tell Syrus.

Jaden made his way over to sit in the desk chair and Syrus perched on the edge of his bed. It was all way too similar to the time he had told Chazz off, and it was making him slightly nervous. He slipped off the bed onto the floor and propped himself up against the railing.

"Sorry about that. Just, what I'm about to tell you has to be kept super secret okay? It's been bothering me since yesterday, and I don't want anyone to know about it. It's about the duel, I'm sure you figured that out, and I don't know, but if Shepard found out I think he would call off the whole thing."

Okay, so that sounded pretty serious. Syrus wouldn't tell anyone, of course; who would listen to him anyway, after he had lied to Zane. But if this was something that could be stopped, then it would make Syrus's plan all the more easy; swoop in, fix Jaden's problems, and regain his life with his best friend.

"Wow, okay Jay. I won't tell anyone. I promise. I mean it."

Out of precaution Jaden looked back to the door. He wanted to make sure that it really was closed, that no one could open it a little and listen in. He deemed it secure and scooted the chair right up to Syrus, almost so that he was leaning in his face.

"Chazz asked me to cheat."

"What?"

"Chazz asked me to lose the duel on purpose. He told me he doesn't think he has a chance of winning against me." Jaden sat back.

"Does he know how risky that is?"

"I'm sure he does. He's read the rules, he knows more of them than I do." Jaden frowned.

It was one of the most important school rules; cheating of any kind on a qualifying duel, which this one definitely was, meant immediate disqualification. If Chazz was caught, there would be no hope of him returning to Obelisk. Unless of course, Slade and Jagger cut Shepard a nice big check, which wouldn't surprise Syrus one bit.

"Why wouldn't he be able to win against you? Sure you've beaten him a few times, but he was an Obelisk once. He should have no problem taking you down, no offense, especially if he uses the cards his brothers bought him."

"He's just," Jaden sighed, "he's just nervous that if he doesn't win Slade and Jagger will really go after him. They've talked about not giving him his share of the company if he doesn't get back to being an Obelisk before he graduates. And that's a long ways away but the sooner he can get it done the sooner he thinks he'll win their approval."

"He's in their shadow." It sounded a lot like the way Syrus felt a lot of the time with Zane. Of course, that was minus the billion dollar company and the abusive family.

"Yeah. I mean, okay, look at Slade and Jagger. Chazz may have been born into the family but success isn't something that's passed down. It's practically impossible for anyone to get to the level that those two are at; expecting the same thing from Chazz is pushing it a little too far."

"So if you cheat then he'll win, and Slade and Jagger will think he's amazing again, and he'll get to go back to being an Obelisk. But what happens when he doesn't win his other duels? Maybe he's just not at the level he used to be anymore." Syrus said softly. He didn't want to upset Jaden, but it was true. Maybe Chazz had had his run in duel monsters and it was time for him to focus his talents on something else.

"No, that's not it. He could still take down half this school if he wanted to. I mean, probably not Zane or Atticus, because they're hard for anyone to beat. But he's still got it. It's just that Slade and Jagger don't care right now who he can beat. They want him to duel me because he lost to me before."

Jaden was playing with the collar of his shirt. He had picked that little habit up from Chazz, Syrus noticed, who did it all the time when he was stressed.

"Do they even know that he ran away? Or do they think that he got demoted because he lost?"

"They have to know. I mean, the duel was between Duel Academy and North Academy. And Chazz obviously wasn't there to represent Duel Academy. I don't think they particularly care about that though. Chazz can go wherever he likes as long as he's successful there."

"I just don't know what to do, Syrus!" Jaden leaned back in the chair, hands in his hair, looking rather troubled. "I want to help him out. I love him, and I don't want him to have to worry about pleasing his brothers anymore. _I _know that they'll just keep wanting more from him, but how could it hurt to let him win this one duel?

"Part of me says that he needs to learn to stand up for himself, though. He can't go on letting his brothers throw him around his whole life. What happens when they all work together? When he's an adult? Maybe this is my chance to help him grow a backbone. That sounds terrible though." Jaden growled. He sounded more frustrated and torn than Syrus had ever seen him before.

"You should talk to him, Jay. There's a reason he wants you to do this. Don't accuse him of anything, just talk to him about how you feel and-"

"But I don't know how I feel!" Jaden sat up suddenly and threw his hands in the air. A crazy look had come into his eyes. Syrus jumped back a little.

"Sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean to do that." He ran his hand over his face and Syrus nodded in acceptance of the apology.

"I really, truly don't know how I feel. I don't think I want him to win, because then he'll leave me. And if he's back in Obelisk Blue it'll just open more doors for his brothers to stress him out. They'll want more and more and he won't always be able to deliver."

"He'll have to learn to stand up to them." Syrus replied.

"But he shouldn't have to! They should just love him for who he is, and besides, who cares what rank he is. With all their money they could just buy him a spot into the pro leagues."

"You're definitely right about that."

"But all he wants is Slade and Jagger's approval! All he wants is for people to believe that he's a good duelist again. Even if he isn't technically winning maybe it'll give him the confidence boost he needs to get back on track."

Jaden slumped back in the chair, all energy gone after his long rant. Syrus didn't say anything because Jaden was clearly lost in his own mind.

"Syrus what do you think would happen if I cheated."

Jaden said it so softly that Syrus didn't think he had really said it at first. "I think that Chazz would win and then he would go back to Obelisk Blue and no one would be the wiser. Unless you made it really obvious that you lost on purpose." He paused. "If you're, if you're going to actually cheat you'll have to play your cards the right way. It can't look staged. It would be hard."

Jaden hummed in agreement.

"Would you hate me if I cheated, Sy?"

Well he definitely hadn't been expecting that. But Jaden seemed to genuinely want to know the answer, and the fact that he was concerned about whether or not Syrus would stop talking to him made him think that he and Jaden were probably back on friendly terms.

"I wouldn't hate you Jay. I didn't hate you after you punched me in the face. And honestly, if you think that Chazz would benefit from it, then go right ahead. It's your call."

"Do you think Chazz would hate me if I didn't" Jaden hesitated.

"I think he would understand. And if he wins on his own, then he proves to his brothers _and _to himself that he can do it. Give him credit, Jaden, he's one of the best duelists this school has ever had. So are you. It won't be easy for either of you to beat the other. But someone's going to win, and whichever way you let the duel go is up to you."

Jaden had raised his head up and was looking at Syrus again. He still looked confused, a little torn between doing the right thing and letting his boyfriend win.

"Chazz would never forgive me if I ruined his chances at getting what he wants."

"Would he, though?"


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I associated with, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**Author's note: We're all amazed that I finally updated this. Trust me.**

* * *

><p>Jaden didn't wake up the morning of the duel with the cliche feeling of impending doom and anxiety he had expected. Instead, he woke up to the sound of someone knocking rather angrily at the door and Chazz demanding sleepily that he go open it.<p>

"Why can't _you _get up and open it Chazz? I say we just let whoever it is tire themselves out and go away." Jaden rolled over to look at the clock on their dresser. "It's only eight thirty."

Chazz's response was in the form of a pillow to Jaden's face. "Answer the door, Jaden," he all but growled. "It might be my brothers on the other side and we both know we don't want to make them mad."

Chazz had a point there. And although he would rather stay curled up in his bed, Jaden knew better than to answer Chazz back. The other boy had been up until practically dawn- well, they both had, but it had mostly been because Chazz couldn't sleep. He was nervous, and Jaden knew it, and Chazz knew Jaden knew it, but he wouldn't admit to it- and so altogether they had gotten about five hours of sleep at most. Not exactly the kind of start Jaden had wanted on the day of the Duel That Will Determine My Love Life.

At the same time, if that was the last night he got to spend with Chazz, the loss of sleep was entirely worth it.

So as much as he didn't want to, Jaden threw back the covers, got up, and shuffled over to the door. Chazz buried himself deeper amongst the pillows and peeked out from his cocoon as Jaden smoothed down his hair and opened the door.

On the other side stood a very peeved Zane, in full Duel Academy uniform, with his arms crossed against his chest.

"About time you answered. You know how many texts Chazz's brothers have sent me?" Zane flashed Jaden the screen of the phone, full of the names Slade and Jagger. "They wanted to see him at their room in what was," He looked at the time on the screen, "ten minutes ago. I suggest he gets up and gets going."

They both knew Chazz could hear them from where he was lying, so the panicked noise he made came as no surprise. When Jaden turned back around, all he saw of the other boy was the tail end of his pajamas disappearing into the bathroom.

"Well. I'll tell them that he's on his way." Zane paused. "Good luck today. To both of you. I won't see you until afterwards, probably." He looked down at his phone again, "If it looks like you're going to win early on, make it a hard fight. His brothers don't know any more than the basics of dueling, and if it looks like Chazz had you on the ropes the entire time, they won't know the difference between the truth and acting."

Zane turned to leave. "But of course, I'm not underestimating Chazz," he said over his shoulder. "There's a reason he was the top ranked freshman. Don't make him feel bad if he absolutely destroys you."

With his parting words said, Zane took his leave. Jaden stood at the door for a moment, mostly to let everything that had been said to him sink still hadn't made the decision as to whether or not he would cheat, and as terrible as it sounded, Zane's words had reminded him that Chazz was more than capable of winning the duel himself. Without Jaden weakening his deck.

At that moment Chazz burst back out of the bathroom door. His hair was still sticking up haphazardly on one side. He rushed over to their dresser and began tearing through one of the top drawers in search of pants. He flung the other clothes to the floor in a mad scramble to find what he was looking for faster. Chazz was in the middle of pulling on his pants when Jaden came to sit behind him. He pulled the other boy into his lap and smoothed down Chazz's hair despite the valiant struggle he was putting up.

"Jaden, let me go! I have to meet my brothers in, like, negative fifteen minutes from now."

Chazz looked stressed. His eyes were wider than normal and they had a crazed look in them that Jaden knew immediately to be worry. His jacket hung off his shoulder at an angle that at any other day would be totally unacceptable.

"Chazzy, sweetie, I just wanted to say that I love you, and good luck with your brothers today, and if I don't see you before we duel, good luck on that too. You will do amazing, and no matter the outcome you will be fine, and your brothers will be fine, and I will not let them do anything to you." Jaden said, and punctuated it with a kiss to Chazz's nose.

He looked his boyfriend right in the eye and held Chazz's hand to his chest. Chazz was staring right at him, having ceased his struggling, and Jaden took the opportunity to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around Chazz and pulled him in closer and tried not to get lost in the feel of Chazz in his lap and against his lips.

"Mm, Jaden, I really have to go." Chazz pulled away and looked to the door worriedly. He gave Jaden a sheepish look and stood from the bed. Jaden stood too, fixing the shoulder of Chazz's jacket and smoothing down Chazz's hair as the other boy put on his shoes.

There was some kind of deep worry in Jaden's eyes, Chazz had noticed, that for perhaps the first time in their relationship had Chazz feeling like _he _was the one who needed to give the comfort. With both his shoes successfully on, Chazz took his hand off the doorknob to pull Jaden in close. Their kiss lasted for just a few seconds, and when they broke apart Chazz leaned his forehead against Jaden's and whispered, "good luck today too, Jaden. I love you, so much. Always. It'll be fine, just like you said. I promise."

He gave his boyfriend one last hug and a reassuring smile. The familiarity of it all- of the Slifer dorm and the terrible view of the rest of campus and the way Jaden felt pressed up against him- made Chazz want to cry. He just hoped Jaden couldn't see it.

Jaden's usual humor had seeped from his body; as much as he tried, there was nothing funny to say to lighten the mood. Something ominous had settled over the both of them as soon as Chazz's fingers left the sleeve of Jaden's jacket. The duel that they had tried so hard to push off was here, looming above them.

Jaden was worried. For the duel, for Chazz and his day with his brothers, for himself and the the decision he still had to make. He wished one of his cards could freeze time for a little while; give him and Chazz just a few more hours to sit together and pretend like nothing was wrong. There was something off, something more unsettling than the duel, that coiled in Jaden's chest and squeezed him tight. He didn't understand it at first, until he caught a glimpse of a black jacket. Then it all made sense.

When Jaden watched his boyfriend hurry down the path, he couldn't help but feel that maybe this was the last time he would see Chazz leave his dorm.

* * *

><p>"So you will be using the cards we gave you this time, won't you?"<p>

Chazz tried not to look up at Slade, who was standing rather intimidatingly over him. A briefcase of cards, the same ones from the first school duel, lay ominously on a table off to the side.

"Jaden already knows the cards you use. He's expecting them. Probably has a strategy devised around them by now."

"I added some cards to my deck. Made it stronger." Chazz said. His voice was weaker than he had expected it to. Or wanted it to, for that matter.

The four of them- Slade, Jagger, Chazz and Zane- were sitting in the living room of the Princeton brother's suite. From where he sat, Chazz could see the top of the dueling arena. It made him slightly sick, to think that in a few short hours he would be back inside, under the careful scrutiny of not only his brothers, but his classmates for the first time since he had arrived back on the island. The whole prospect gave him nerves that he had never experienced before; through all his years of dueling, even in the school duel, nothing made him quite as nervous as this.

Chazz knew why. But he didn't like to dwell on it. His insecurities had started to surface again, especially during the walk to his brothers. He felt torn; on one hand, if he won, he would earn back the approval of his brothers. He would regain his former glory and get the respect he had had as the top freshman. He would be back in Obelisk Blue, maybe even become the top student of the school, and his path to the pro leagues would be paved. But if he lost, he would stay with Jaden. Buried deep in the back of his mind, Chazz was deathly afraid that Jaden would leave him if he returned to the Blues. He knew that the idea was rather foolish, Jaden loved him no matter what his rank was; but at the same time, the separation could lead Jaden to resent him. There were too many factors with too many outcomes for Chazz's mind to relax, which in turn gave him that heart racing, can't-sit-down-because-I'm-so-nervous energy.

"But they're not as strong as the cards we bought you." Jagger's voice had a poisonous edge to it. If Chazz had to guess, he had been the one commissioned to organize the purchase of the cards and would be rather upset if Chazz didn't use them. "Jaden has only seen these cards in his dreams. You'll crush him in two turns with them."

"But I don't know them," Chazz replied. "I don't know what works together well enough."

Zane stood off to the side, silently watching the exchange between the two brothers. Slade and Jagger had always liked him, hence the sponsorship they were still offering him, so they had invited him to stay with them for the day before the duel. Zane had agreed, more out of his brotherly instinct to protect Chazz than his willingness to spend the day with the two oldest Princeton brothers. He had never truly seen the three of them together, and he would be lying if he said he hadn't wanted to see just how dysfunctional they were. It was unfortunate, Zane thought, that two of the most brilliant men in the world were so terrible to their younger brother.

"What do you think, Zane?" Slade interrupted. He had moved to sit on the couch across from Chazz, who was extremely relieved and allowed himself to relax a little in his chair. The oldest Princeton's cool grey eyes moved to focus on the Obelisk boy.

"I think he should do whatever feels right to him. Yes Jaden knows Chazz's cards already, but the order of those cards changes entirely every time Chazz duels. There's no way Jaden would be able to conceive a winning strategy before the duel has even started." He gestured to the cards on the table, "and while the cards you offered him are obviously stronger, Chazz is used to the cards in his normal deck. That familiarity will allow him to play each hand to his advantage. Jaden _is _a rather formidable opponent. If Chazz knows the in's and out's of every card he holds, he'll have a solution to whatever Jaden throws at him."

It clearly was not the answer that the oldest Princeton brothers had wanted to hear. Jagger's eyebrow twitched and his mouth twisted into a pained expression. He didn't say anything- miraculously, Zane thought- as he brought his hand down on top of the briefcase. It shut with a decisive snap.

"I trust that you know what you're talking about. More than Chazz does." Jagger said. His eyes narrowed like he was trying to intimidate Zane into changing his mind. The insult to his younger brother was lost on no one in the room, and Zane watched from the corner of his eye as Chazz's face turned red and he sank deeper into his seat.

"Chazz knows exactly what he's talking about." Zane replied. Jagger sneered and opened his mouth to say something in return, but Slade held up a hand to stop him.

"Yes, Chazz is a brilliant duelist. He just had an off day. But everyone does, so he really can't be blamed." Slade gave them a sickly sweet smile. "Our little brother has had time to relax, and now he's in better shape than ever to destroy Jaden Yuki, aren't you Chazz?"

The three of them looked to the youngest in the room, who nodded hesitantly before shifting his gaze to his hands in his lap.

"Last time Jaden won on a mistake, which is why we would much rather you used the cards we bought for you this time, Chazz," Slade said "But if you two say that Jaden will have no advantage against your old deck, then we believe you."

Chazz flinched. His shoulders tightened almost imperceptibly and he leaned away from his brothers in such a smooth motion that at first Zane thought he was simply shifting positions. Zane was almost positive that Chazz had just thought about what Slade and Jagger would do if he lost the duel.

"Enough about the cards," Jagger snapped. He was obviously still upset about the time he had wasted getting the cards together. "We have a gift for you Chazz. In anticipation of your win."

Jagger was smiling, actually _smiling_. There was a giddy excitement on his face that Zane had never seen before; and- judging by his expression- neither had Chazz.

"What?" Chazz squeaked. He looked like he was seriously contemplating the chances of this being a joke, what with the way he narrowed his eyes and leaned forward slightly.

"You _are _going to be an Obelisk again Chazz; we had to make sure you were dressed for the part." Jagger had made his way over to the closet in the corner of the room by this point. He stuck his head in and shuffled something around for a moment before emerging with a beautiful royal blue coat in his arms. It was wrapped in a shiny plastic covering, dry cleaned and pressed into utter perfection. Everyone in the room knew immediately what it was.

"You had my jacket fixed?" Chazz squeaked. His voice had risen an octave and was stuck somewhere between horror and disbelief, Zane decided.

Jagger laid the coat in his brother's lap proudly. "Of course not," he said. "Why go through the trouble of fixing it when we could just buy another one? Much easier. No having to search through your things to find it, for one. And this is a new start, Chazz. A start of no more failures. You're on your way to the big leagues now, little brother. It's like you're starting over. No room for anything from the past."

Chazz stared at it. It felt surreal to be holding the Obelisk jacket, and he didn't know how much he liked that. A part of his mind told him that he should be disappointed; how far had he fallen to be surprised he was allowed a chance back in the top? Hesitantly, disbelievingly, he unzipped the plastic covering and took the jacket out. He held it up in front of him, running a finger over the shiny gold buttons and the pristine white trim that was cleaner than that of his old jacket had ever been.

"Shepard should have never been allowed to take this away from you," Slade said. He was in the middle of a rant, Chazz could tell, with the malicious gleam to his eyes. "Losing may be your fault, but how will Shepard feel when he realizes that he made enemies of his best student and his brothers? We should have had him sued, Jagger. Call the lawyer. No one makes a fool of the Princeton brothers."

Zane laughed under his breath. Chazz switched his gaze between the Obelisk boy and Slade and realized, for the first time, that maybe Slade and Jagger were a little bit _too _happy about the upcoming duel. A bottle of red wine lay empty on it's side on the coffee table, and another half-full one was sitting beside a pair of two full wine glasses. Jagger, who was the better off of the two, squinted his eyes and raised a hand in Zane's direction.

"Don't you love the jacket, Chazz?" Jagger asked. That happy, self content smile was still on his face. When Chazz nodded, he beamed even more and laughed. "Good."

* * *

><p>The duel arena was packed. Students streamed through the doors in groups, all equally excited to see the rematch. News had spread quickly of Slade and Jagger, and Chazz's prospective prize; Syrus wouldn't be shocked if they had come for the drama as much as the duel.<p>

It was like the whole school had turned out for the occasion, and somehow Jaden had still managed to be late.

Syrus stood nervously off to the side, checking his phone every ten seconds. Jaden had to be backstage in five minutes, and Syrus had yet to see a sign of his best friend. They had agreed to meet in this spot in front of the arena so that Syrus could give Jaden his pre-duel pep talk.

Jaden had been a mess all morning. He refused a trip to the cafeteria -Syrus had had to bring him food, and wasn't that was a first- and had built himself a nest of pillows and blankets on his bed. He had wanted to be alone so he could come up with a solution to the problem that was plaguing his mind.

The more that people passed by the more Syrus's nerves grew. Visions of Chazz standing on the dual platform alone, of the audience's confusion, and then of Jaden rushing in, out of breath, not embarrassed in the slightest, flashed through Syrus's mind. Jaden wasn't one to get flustered by being late, and at any other time Syrus wouldn't have worried, but this was a big deal. He just hoped the other boy hadn't gotten so caught up in his thoughts that he wasn't keeping track of the time.

"Sy! I'm here!" A very, very familiar voice grew louder from behind him. Syrus turned to see Jaden running up the path with his duel disk on his arm and his cards in one hand.

"It's about time you got here!" Syrus exclaimed. He sounded flustered and very mother-hen like. "You have _three minutes _to get backstage before Shepard hunts you down."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry late, I couldn't," Jaden bent over at this point to catch his breath before carrying on. "I couldn't leave until I looked perfect. For Chazz."

When Jaden looked back up his eyes were dull. He looked tired and drained and the sadness was palpable. Syrus didn't have the heart to tell him that he had messed up his hair running here.

"It's okay," Syrus smiled. It was for Jaden's sake; inside he was growing more and more worried as the time ticked by. "Let's just go inside. You can sit down for a few minutes and catch your breath and get yourself together."

He took Jaden's arm and steered him in the direction of the doors. "How are you feeling? Did you come to a conclusion yet?"

Jaden just sighed and lowered his head.

* * *

><p>"I feel like I'm getting married, Sy, is that weird?"<p>

Jaden had brightened considerably since they had made it backstage. Something about the atmosphere had kicked Jaden's love of dueling into drive and he was finally starting to relax. Now he was standing in front of the closed doors that opened into the duel arena. Syrus was sitting off to the side playing games on his phone, but he looked up when Jaden spoke.

"What are you talking about?" Syrus asked and gave Jaden a rather baffled look. He had no idea what the other boy was talking about.

"I feel like I'm getting married. I haven't seen Chazz all day. It's like he's the bride and he had to leave to get ready. Can't see the bride before the duel," Jaden laughed. "Now we're sitting here waiting for the dual to start, and you're here and obviously you'll be at my wedding as the best man. It just seems very similar in a weird way is all. Except obviously if this was a wedding it wouldn't be a dual, and we would be happy and not worried. And-"

"And I don't think you should say that in front of Chazz. How do you think he'll react to being called your bride?" Syrus interrupted his friend before he could say anything that would dampen the mood. He knew Jaden had been getting to the area of "and we wouldn't be deciding the future of Chazz's Duel Academy career."

Jaden thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. "You're probably right, Sy," he laughed. "Chazz would hate that. Either way it still feels like a wedding to me."

Jaden paused. "I hope when I do get married, it's to Chazz." He said this quietly, almost too low for Syrus to hear. It made something in Syrus hurt; he felt a sudden rush of guilt. Seeing Jaden standing there with a fragile smile on his face made Syrus realize how much he loved the boy. He felt bad for the things he had said, for the pain he had caused both of the boys in the relationship.

"Jaden Yuki, it's time to go." The voice startled both of the boys out of their thoughts. A assistant with a clipboard and headset was leafing through his papers. "Good luck."

The assistant hit the button to open the door with a bored expression. Syrus moved to take his place next to Jaden and whispered, "good luck. I believe in you" just before they both stepped out into the arena.

The first thing Syrus took in was the sheer amount of people. Obelisks, Ras, and Slifers alike were intermingled in the crowd. They cheered excitedly when they saw Jaden. The next thing he noticed was Slade and Jagger sitting in the middle of the crowd, facing Jaden, next to Shepard and Zane. As always they wore their fancy suits and haughty expressions, but this time they smiled and turned to talk to each other every few moments. They kept looking down at Chazz, and their glances drew Syrus's eyes down to the black haired boy too.

Unsurprisingly Chazz was the first thing that Jaden had looked at. And at just about the same time that Syrus looked at the boy, he heard Jaden gasp beside him. And the surprise was valid, because Syrus was shocked to see it too.

There was Chazz, standing on the dual platform looking as confident and haughty as his brothers. His hair was perfect and his eyes darted around the stands. He looked relaxed, like he was in his element, but that was far from what had caught Syrus and Jaden's attention. Jaden's eyes widened.

Chazz Princeton was wearing an Obelisk Blue jacket.

* * *

><p>The duel went about as planned. Chazz and Jaden exchanged dramatic, crowd pleasing insults. They called upon spell cards and traps and negated each other's strategies like they had been born to do so.<p>

Syrus had moved to the stands to sit with Alexis and Bastion and the rest, whom he had made up with about the same day as he had with Jaden. Whispers were still circulating the stands about Chazz's new outfit choice, and Syrus found himself incapable of looking away from the blue distraction. Chazz had looked uncomfortable in it for the first few turns, but by this point he was immersed in the game. Everything else seemed to disappear.

Jaden was losing. Up in the stands, Slade and Jagger were looking more and more excited. Syrus couldn't see Jaden's face, but the strategies he was using were legitimate; they weren't dumbed down or executed poorly. There was no way he was letting Chazz win this.

Something so malicious gleamed in Chazz's eyes that for a moment he looked like a miniature version of his brothers. "Aren't you ready to give up, Jaden? You only have 300 life points left," he laughed. "It's okay, you can admit I'll win. The Chazz is back!" He raised a fist in the air and parts of the crowd cheered.

Chazz's smile ran from ear to ear. He looked so happy, and like he was a little surprised that people were cheering for him.

"Now get ready for my Armed Dragon to destroy you, and end this duel! Hello Obelisk Blue!" He thrust his hand out in front of him to point to Jaden.

Chazz's boyfriend was staying perfectly calm. "Chazzy, you know it's okay to lose, right?"

The crowd went silent.

"What? What are you talking about?" Chazz's voice was shrill. He kept his body language rather relaxed, but Syrus saw his eyes dart to the face down card on Jaden's side of the field. "There's no way I'm losing this Slacker, face it."

Jaden shrugged. "If that's what you say." He took a breath and then smiled. "Alright then. I activate my trap card The Warrior Returning Alive to add Elemental Hero back to my hand. Then I'll play Polymerization to combine Avian and Burstinatrix to fusion summon my good friend Elemental Hero Flame Wingman in attack mode!"

Chazz scoffed. "That won't do anything for you, Jaden. I know you're trying, but there's no way you're coming back from this."

Syrus could see Slade and Jagger look at each other and smirk. They thought that Jaden was done for.

"Jaden isn't done yet, is he?" Alexis asked. They all knew the answer to that, but only Bastion responded with a confident "of course not."

"When I activate my facedown card Miracle Kids, I can target one of your monsters on the field and decrease its attack points by 400 for each Hero Kid in my graveyard." He paused and made a show of counting on his fingers the number of Hero Kid's he had. "That's three, Chazzy, which means your Armed Dragon level 7's attack points drop to 1600!"

Chazz, for his part, looked relatively terrified. He knew, just like everyone else, what was about to happen. He twitched and Syrus just knew that he was trying to avoid turning to look at his brothers. Which was just as well, because they looked absolutely furious. Syrus actually felt bad for the guy. What they had done to him at the school duel looked like it was about to become the pre-equal to the _real _main event.

"Now, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! Attack Chazz and end this dual!"

Chazz turned just in time to see his dragon disappear in a holographic explosion. The life points counter echoed through the arena, filling the room with the loud electronic buzz as it hit zero. The crowd was silent. No one cheered.

Chazz collapsed. He caught himself on his hands and knees just before he face planted into the floor. The blue jacket billowed out around him.

Slade and Jagger looked icy calm. They didn't move, didn't say anything to each other, but the way their jaws were set told Syrus that they were far beyond angry. They stood in harmony and made their way out of the stands and down the stairs. Zane had tried to stop them, but Slade had put a hand on his shoulder and told him rather icily, it looked like, to sit back down. Zane did so, even though he looked majorly concerned, and the two brothers disappeared out of the doors to the arena.

On the ground, Chazz's shoulders began to shake like he was crying. Jaden was still standing, but his head was down like he was staring at his boyfriend. Neither of them moved. Jaden took a shaky breath. Still no one talked.

It was a terrible sense of deja vu for Chazz. He couldn't bring himself to look up at the crowd, or Jaden, or to even stand from the spot he was curled up in. He, Chazz Princeton, once top freshman of Duel Academy and aspiring pro duelist, had lost. Again.


End file.
